After it emerged yesterday that Edvald Boasson Hagen had pulled out of this Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad  in Belgium due to a nasty cold, Team Sky has moved to confirm that his place on the start line will be taken by CJ Sutton. Boasson Hagen started to feel unwell after returning to his native Norway following the Tour of Algarve, where he performed well in winning stage two and the overall points classification.

“It’s unfortunate Edvald has picked up this bug because his form was really good in Portugal last week and he was looking forward to the race," Sky's Rod Ellingworth told the team's official website.

“There’s never an ideal time to pick up an illness like this, but he’ll be back for Tirreno-Adriatico [March 7-13] and a good week there should stand him in good stead for an important phase in his season. In CJ we have a ready-made replacement and he was with the team anyway ahead of Kurrne-Bruxelles-Kuurne on Sunday. He's looking fit and lean, and is motivated to ride well this weekend after taking the title in Kuurne last year.”