Lotto and Omega Pharma-Quick Step prefer training to driving
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Team Omega Pharma - Quick Step(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The Lotto team will be hoping Andre Greipel will be there for the sprint(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Descending the Poggio in a long line(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
While some teams will scout the route of the upcoming Milan-San Remo Classic after having finished Tirreno-Adriatico, the two Belgian World Tour teams Lotto-Belisol and Omega Pharma-Quick Step have chosen not to. 'The race between the two seas' will finish on Tuesday with a closing time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto on the Adriatic coastline, and both Belgian squads believe that their riders will be better off training there.
"That would be crazy," Lotto director Herman Frison told Sportwereld. "Most teams won't do that. The finish of Tirreno-Adriatico is more than 700 kilometres away from Milan, and afterwards, the riders would have to go back from San Remo to the start in Milan. A total of 1,000 kilometers. We won't do that to our riders. They will be better off resting and training around here.
"Moreover, there isn't a lot to recon at the Primavera. Up the Cipressa, up the Poggio and full gas to the finish - that's it!" he laughed. Lotto's main man for the 'Primavera' will be André Greipel, who already has good knowledge of the parcours and finished Tirreno-Adriatico on the penultimate day in order to recover from the particularly challenging stage race.
Omega Pharma-QuickStep, who will look for Tom Boonen for the victory, has no intention of scouting the route, either. "That's not part of the plan," commented team director Rik Van Slycke.
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