Silence-Lotto looks to wake up riders

Team Silence-Lotto looked to score big in the first semi-classics in Belgium this last weekend, but was unsuccessful, as it has been so far all season. Manager of the Belgian team, Marc Sergeant, said it is time to wake up some of his riders.

Greg Van Avermaet finished fourth Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but the team was nowhere to be seen in Sunday's Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. They missed the break and only four riders finished the race, with Jürgen Roelandts being the best finisher in 61st place, 8:18 down.

"Everyone must realise that it can't go on like this," Sergeant told Het Laatste Nieuws. Perhaps he simply needs to sit down and talk with the riders, he said.

He brushed off the suggested possibility of fining riders who do not perform as expected. "I don't know about that," he said. "I have to hear what the sponsors think that we ought to do. But we shouldn't start to panic." (SW)