Etixx – Quick-Step to Driedaagse De Panne

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Marcel Kittel and Tony Martin lead Etixx Quickstep in the three Days of De Panne starting on Tuesday, warm up race for Tour of Flanders

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Etixx – Quick-Step to Driedaagse De Panne

Taking place over three days, the Driedaagse De Panne should serve as an excellent opportunity for some riders to tune up their condition ahead of the Tour the Flanders, whilst also giving some others the chance of bagging some stage wins or the always important GC victory.

The event, which was created in 1977, has four stages, and ever since its inception has turned into a popular race, due to the challenging parcours (hills and cobbles) and the weather conditions (rain, strong winds), which always led to an aggressive way of racing.

Things won’t be any different at the 40th edition, where Marcel Kittel – one of the most successful riders of the season, with five victories to his name – lines up at the start hoping to add another win into his account. Kittel’s fellow countryman Tony Martin, the three time ITT world champion will ride the race after a strong performance in E3 Harelbeke, last Friday.

The team will also be made up of Iljo Keisse, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck,  Maximiliano Richeze, neo-pro Davide Martinelli, Fabio Sabatini and Lukasz Wisniowski, who notched up a series of strong results this season on Belgian turf.

Sport director Rik van Slycke talked about the parcours of the race, as well as the goals with which Etixx – Quick-Step starts the three-day event: “We have a competitive team for De Panne. The first stage will be really hard, with 11 hills on the course, including a double ascent of the Muur van Geraardsbergen and another climb right before the finish line.”

“Considering this, and the bad weather which has been forecasted, it’s very likely we will have a selective group at the finish. One day later, it’s going to be a sprinters’ affair, and there’s no secret that Marcel will be our man for this, while on Thursday, the race will conclude with two half-stages, and the one in the afternoon, a 14-km long individual time trial, will see Tony start as one of the favourites for the stage victory.”

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29.03–31.03 Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde (BEL) 2.HC

Riders

Iljo Keisse (BEL)
Marcel Kittel (GER)
Tony Martin (GER)
Davide Martinelli (ITA)
Maximiliano Richeze (ARG)
Fabio Sabatini (ITA)
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL)
Lukasz Wisniowski (POL)

Sports Director Rik van Slycke (BEL)

Website http://www.driedaagse.be

Stages
29.03.16 Stage 1 De Panne – Zottegem 198.2 km
30.03.16 Stage 2 Zottegem – Koksijde 211.1 km
31.03.16 Stage 3 De Panne – De Panne 111.5 km
31.03.16 Stage 3 De Panne 14.2 km (ITT)

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