Intermarché-Wanty heads into its second weekend of Belgian classics with the GP Criquielion on Saturday 8rd of March and the GP Monseré on Sunday 9th of March. With its Belgian sprinters Arne Marit and Gerben Thijssen, the World Team heads to the start with former winners of both events.
The Grand Prix Criquielion starts this Saturday on the Grand-Place of the City of Giants, where the structure of Intermarché-Wanty was born as VC Ath in 1974. It is another race on Walloon soil between Ath and Lessines, divided into seven laps passing through the cobbled sector of Rue La Blanche, as well as the Mont and des Plachettes climbs in the last two bigger laps.
Also the next day, a little over 200 kilometers have to be covered in the Grote Prijs Monseré, divided into three and a half laps of 67 kilometers between Ichtegem and Roeselare, each time Rach time with the cobblestones of Lookhuisstraat and Gitsberg.
The winner of the 2023 GP Monseré, Gerben Thijssen, begins his Belgian spring classics campaign this weekend alongside Arne Marit, winner of the 2019 GP Criquielion, and who has demonstrated his excellent condition with a fourth place at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne last Sunday.
The two sprinters can count on the sprint train composed of Huub Artz, Dries De Pooter, Luca Van Boven, and Gijs Van Hoecke. On Saturday, the selection directed by Dimitri Claeys and Sébastien Demarbaix is completed by Gerben Kuypers for the GP Criquielion, while the young talent from Wanty-NIPPO-ReUz, Elmar Abma, makes his debut with the World Team on Sunday in the GP Monseré.
"I'm starting my classics campaign with a lot of enthusiasm. It's a period that brought me a lot of success since I joined Intermarché-Wanty. Last year, I won as early as January, but for this year, we planned a slightly later peak in form. That's why I skipped the opening weekend so I could continue combining endurance and strength sessions longer in my preparation. I feel like I've taken another step forward this winter, and I want to demonstrate that starting this Sunday at the GP Monseré. I feel a lot of confidence from those around me. My trainer Adriaan Helmantel and our sprint specialist Pieter Vanspeybrouck are closely monitoring my progress. I've strengthened the collaboration with our sports dieticians Astrid Roekens and Jemme Terryn to ensure I start every training session and every race with a full tank. In short, I'm overflowing with confidence, and I feel I'm ready to start this important period. GP Monseré, Nokere Koerse, Bredene-Koksijde, Classic Brugge-De Panne, La Roue Tourangelle, and the Scheldeprijs, these are all races that suit me, and where I want to give my all to achieve victory, with the help of my train. As a sprinter, winning is the only goal, for myself and for my team Intermarché-Wanty."
