Jack Bobridge lines up as part of a Belkin team committed to going on the attack at the Prudential RideLondon - Surrey Classic on Sunday. While Paul Martens is nominally the team’s fast man, Bobridge told Cyclingnews before the start that he and his teammates would be looking to sniff out breakaway opportunities.
“We didn’t expect it to be this big. It’s a lot bigger than I expected. I think it could be quite tough today with only six riders, but I think it’s going to be a good race,” Bobridge said.
“It’s a bit harder for us because we’re only starting with five, we’re missing Tom Leezer but I think today the rest of us five will have a look around and see what the race is doing.”
Bobridge’s Belkin teammate Wilco Kelderman secured overall victory at the Tour of Denmark on Sunday and the team enters the second half of the season on something of a high after securing a new title sponsor in the build-up to the Tour de France
The squad began the year under the Blanco banner following the withdrawal of Rabobank, and Bobridge said that the new sponsor and Bauke Mollema’s strong showing at the Tour de France had provided a considerable boost to morale at the squad.
“I think that’s relaxed a lot of people and coming from the Tour with the fantastic result for the team, it’s taken a lot of stress off the team,” he said. “Everyone’s got good morale for the rest of the year."