Fumiyuki Beppu (RadioShack) in Deinze (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Hayden Roulston (HTC-Columbia) makes a fan's day as Gert Dockx looks pretty pleased to be in Belgium (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Hayden Roulston selects his weapon of choice (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Former pro Daniele Nardalo is not on the staff at Footon-Servetto (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) finished third at E3 Prijs Vlaanderen on Saturday (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Defending Champion Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Sky teammates Chris Sutton and Michael Barry prepare to head to the start (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Cyclingnews diarist Kenny van Hummel heads to the sign-on in Deinze (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) gets ready to go (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Last year's third place getter Matthew Goss will carry HTC-Columbia's hopes of back-to-back wins (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Omega Pharma-Lotto's riders were sporting some custom paint jobs for the Classics (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Euskaltel-Euskadi were the first team to arrive on Sunday morning (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Team Sky executive directeur sportif Scott Sunderland makes sure everything runs smoothly aboard the team bus at the start (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Euskaltel's fleet of Orbeas lined up and ready for their pilots (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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An HTC-Columbia mechanic makes some final adjustments to the riders' Scotts (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Cyclingnews diarist Kenny van Hummel chats before the start (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Liquigas' riders stay warm in their bus, perhaps thinking whether their performance can form the mural for next season's bus. (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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George Hincapie's rig sits front and centre outside the BMC bus (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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A list of priorities for Omega Pharma-Lotto? (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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Peter Wrolich (Milram) on the start line (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
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The ProTour peloton decended on Deinze, Belgium on Sunday morning for the start of Gent-Wevelgem. Cyclingnews was on location to capture these images of the scene.
The first Belgian race of the International Cycling Union's (UCI) world calendar, the semi-Classic will see the riders make a 219km journey across Flanders and back into the centre of Wevelgem.
Last year, Edvald Boasson Hagen took victory for Columbia-Highroad, after he and Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas) escaped on the Kemmelberg. Twelve months on the race is a different beast, with 14 climbs added to the twin ascents of the Kemmel.