Mitchelton-SCOTT will close out their classics campaign with the Belgian one-day race Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne tomorrow.
Sarah Roy will line-up after her impressive fifth place at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, as will Brabantse Pijl winner Grace Brown. The race will also be Gracie Elvin’s farewell as she heads into retirement after a nine-year career.
The Australian core of the team from the from Sunday’s Ronde remains, with the addition of British youngster Jess Roberts and the experienced Janneke Ensing for the final classic of the year.
Mitchelton-SCOTT Team:
Sarah Roy (AUS, 34)
Gracie Elvin (AUS, 31)
Jess Allen (AUS, 27)
Grace Brown (AUS, 28)
Jess Roberts (GBR, 21)
Janneke Ensing (NED, 34)
The Course
The 155km race will see the peloton head from Brugge to De Panne, where the race then circulates on a finishing loop. The course is flat and lends itself to a sprint finish, with the previous two editions of the race ending in bunch kicks.
History
The team won the inaugural edition of the race back in 2018 with former rider Jolien d’Hoore.
Sarah Roy:
“It’s the last race of the season, so I’m pretty motivated to give it a crack. Hopefully we can get on the podium, I think the whole team can take confidence from Flanders and all of the recent races.
“We’re all in really good form, so hopefully we can put all that together and pull something out for the last classic of the year. It looks like it’s going to be super windy, up to 60 kilometres per hour winds, so we’re expecting a lot of gutter action.
“I’ve only done De Panne once before, but I know that it’s definitely one of the harder races, so I’m expecting another solid day out.”
Martin Vestby (Sports Director):
“The prediction is that there will be quite a lot of wind tomorrow, so in these kinds of races, the race makes itself. We expect it’s going to split up before we reach the local laps in De Panne.
“I think with the riders we have we can go for more of an aggressive approach, but it can also easily come down to a sprint like it has in the past. I think the local laps can also open up the possibility for some breakaways too.”
Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne 2020 – Race Details
Tuesday, 20th October: Brugge – De Panne, 155km
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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