Nairo Quintana will be on Movistar’s roster for the upcoming Dwars door Vlaanderen (March 25) and E3 Harelbeke (March 27). His participation in the Spring Classic events play a role in his preparation for the cobbled stage four from Seraing, Belgium, to Cambrai, France, at the Tour de France in July, which will include seven sectors (13km) of pavé.
Quintana will be joined by teammates Francisco Ventoso, John Gadret, Jonathan Castroviejo, Imanol Erviti, Andrey Amador, Gorka Izagirre y Adriano Malori.
Eight riders on the team including José Vicente García and José Luis Jaimerena are currently previewing the seven sectors of cobbles between Seraing and Cambrai this week.
The rest of the Movistar team is currently competing at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya held from March 23-29 in Spain.
Terpstra to lead Etixx-QuickStep at Dwars door Vlaanderen
Defending champion Niki Terpstra will lead the Etixx-QuickStep team at the Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, March 25. Terpstra has won the event twice, in 2012 and 2014, and is no doubt aiming to win it again this year.
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Terpstra opened the season with an overall win at the Tour of Qatar and placed second at both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite and Ronde Van Zeeland Seaports.
He will be joined by a powerful team that includes world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, who recently showed top form after placing second overall at Paris-Nice, and Mark Cavendish, who recently won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
Etixx-QuickStep Tour of Flanders roster: Mark Cavendish, Iljo Keisse, Michal Kwiatkowski, Yves Lampaert, Nikolas Maes, Niki Terpstra, Matteo Trentin and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck.
Velits to undergo surgery on left leg
BMC’s Peter Velits will have surgery with in the next two weeks on his left leg to treat an overuse injury, according to a team press release on Monday. The Slovakian time trial champion developed the injury over the past few months after the first signs of a problem at a training camp in December.
"His leg has definitely been bothering him the past few weeks," said BMC’s team doctor Max Testa. "So after the medical staff consulted with an external specialist, we decided it was best for him to have surgery.”
The team stated that if the surgery goes well, Velits should be back to racing in September.
