BMC Racing Team recon the Cobbles ahead of the Classics
Greg Van Avermaet and the classics team hit the cobbles ahead of the 2018 Spring season
While the other half of BMC Racing team's squad i,ncluding Richie Porte suffer in 40C temperatures at the Tour Down Under, BMC Racings Classics' squad ventured out in freezing conditions to ride the course of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Greg Van Avermaet, Nathan Van Hooydonck, Jürgen Roelandts and Jempy Drucker, supported by BMC Racing took on some famous stretches of cobbles.
Greg Van Avermaet, who won Paris-Roubaix, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem last season and was second at the Tour of Flanders in 2017. Last year's cobbled races went a long way to dispelling any myth that Van Avermaet would be a perpetual second place to riders like World Champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).
The Belgian was second best at Flanders after Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) went on a long range attack. Van Avermaet is set on doing the Roubaix-Flanders double this year.
With Richie Porte aiming for the Tour de France, this could be a huge year for BMC Racing, whose strong squad should contest Quick-Step Floors for overall number of race wins.
