Bahrain Victorious head into the second round of the Ardennes Classics with fresh riders coming in to support team leaders Pello Bilbao and Santiago Buitrago in La Flèche Wallonne.
Bilbao made the late breakaway in the Amstel Gold Race over the weekend, eventually finishing ninth in the sprint behind winner Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers).
Buitrago is making his Spring Classics season debut after a strong start to the year in the Volta a Valenciana, where he was second overall, and Paris-Nice, where he won the stage to Mont Brouilly.
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He unfortunately crashed and dropped out of the race, taking three weeks before returning at the Itzulia Basque Country. The Spaniard finished third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège last year but hasn't raced La Flèche Wallonne since 2020.
Team director Roman Kreuziger is counting on Bilbao after his impressive performance at the Amstel Gold Race.
"Pello has shown great form," Kreuziger said, "but I guess on paper, the finale suits Santi better. None of that matters, though, if we don't deliver him to the right place at 900m [to go], which is going to be a big challenge.
"I would like to see both our leaders in the top ten, with one on the podium, not just because I think that's realistic, but also because it's good to go that deep before 'The Old Lady' next Sunday."
Kreuziger pointed to the extra ascent of the Mur de Huy as a potential complication. Organisers shortened the first part of the race, bringing the first ascent of the Mur de Huy forward from kilometre 119.7 last year to 104.1km into the race this season, and added another lap with the Mur and the Côte d'Ereffe as the Côte de Cherave was eliminated from the course due to roadworks.
The course change and the prediction for a windy first two hours mean the team could have extra work to protect their leaders. Matevž Govekar and Fred Wright will sit out Flèche, with Edoardo Zambanini and Buitrago stepping in.
"We have some fresh guys coming in for the last week of the Spring classics – Zamba has shown great shape recently, and Santi is really on top form this year. He's recovered very well after his crashes at Paris-Nice last month and has made these two events a priority," Kreuziger said. "His numbers are looking really good and we're confident that he will do well."
The rest of the team from Amstel will be on the line. "It's good that we have a couple of big riders here too in Łukasz Wiśniowski and Fran Miholjević to protect our leaders from the weather – with the start in Charleroi there could be some wind in the first 85km or so. Those guys know exactly what to do: bring our climbers to the circuit at the foot of the first time up the Mur.
"Later on, we'll be covered with Edoardo, Nicolò [Buratti] & Yuki [Arashiro]. Yuki is amazing – even at his age, he is still competitive, and he is really good with Pello. He understands the desire and knows what Pello needs, so they will make a great racing partnership.
"I expect a lot from Nicolò after what he showed last week: not to be there at the end but to drop Santi, Pello and Edoardo [off] for at the least the first couple of times up the Mur."
