Team DSM will rely on their strength in numbers during the finals of both 1.Pro Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on February 26 and 1.1 Omloop van het Hageland on February 27. The team will field two powerful sprinters, Lorena Wiebes and Charlotte Kool, for a tough-to-beat duo during Opening Weekend.
Alongside Wiebes and Kool are Pfeiffer Georgi, Franziska Koch, Liane Lippert and Floortje Mackaij, making for a powerful Classics team.
Team DSM saw departures from two stand-out performers in Coryn Labecki (née Rivera) and Susanne Andersen, both having formed part of their sprint and puncheur squad last year.
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Wiebes indicated in an interview with Cyclingnews at the team launch, that the arrival of Kool, along with the return of Georgi, meant the team will be stronger than ever, particularly in the sprints.
“I’m happy that Pfeiffer [Georgi] is still on our team next year because she was really important this year in the lead out. Susanne [Andersen] left but we have Charlotte [Kool] who is also talented in the sprints and a really good sprinter. I think we can work really well together to make our lead out even better than last year. I think we have a good sprint team with strong riders to bring me into good a position," Wiiebes said in December.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad's 128km route starts in Gent and includes five cobbled sectors and nine climbs, two of which are cobbled. The Molenberg climb has been removed in 2022 but the final two ascents over the Muur-Kapelmuur (17km to go) and the Bosberg (13km to go) will be the toughest points of the race before the finish in Ninove.
"Omloop marks the start of our Classics campaign and we're all looking forward to it. During the race we will look for opportunities through aggressive racing in the hill zone. With the Molenberg out of the parcours, then it could potentially be a bit of different race than we seen in recent years. Yet, it will be still hard enough to split things up, especially with the Muur and Bosberg combination deep into the final of the day," said sports director, Huub Duijn.
"We believe our strength for the race is in the width and depth of our squad and we hope to create numbers, and as a result opportunities for us in the front, by being attentive and through aggressive racing,"
Esmée Peperkamp will replace Lippert in the six-rider lineup at Omloop van het Hageland, but Duijn believes the team will once again suit the cobbled circuit held across narrow Belgian roads. The 128km race will begin in Tienen and finish on large circuits in Tielt-Winge.
"The route for Omloop van het Hageland has changed slightly this year, with a big 30-kilometre loop on stereotypical Belgian roads; with a lot of up and down, narrow roads and changes in direction. We will look to create opportunities in that section of the course and then see what the race situation is like after that," Duijn said.
"We have a strong group here who can ride aggressively at the front, but if the weather or attacking racing hasn't split things up, then we will work towards setting up a sprint with Lorena as our finisher in the finale."
