Columbia-Highroad's Thomas Lövkist is hoping to claim another Spring Classic victory at either tomorrow's Flèche Wallonne or the weekend's Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Swedish rider took an impressive victory at Italy's Eroica Toscana in March.
"Eroica's finish is kind of similar to the final part of Flèche Wallonne, a very similar steep uphill climb to the line," Lövkist said. "Knowing that I did well in the Eroica helps boost my confidence for this one, too.
"Flèche Wallonne is a race which always comes down to the last climb of the Mur de Huy, and you have to be in the top 10 or 15 when you start it or there's no way you can win," he added. "Then half-way up there's a very steep S-bend, where you have to make a final acceleration if you want to cross the line in first place."
Lövkist believes Flèche Wallonne will be a good test of his condition ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "If you're no good in Flèche then you'll be no good in Liège, that's for sure. In that way it's a test," he said. "But I went well in the Tour of the Basque Country, although I didn't kill myself there, and I've got high hopes for the Ardennes Classics."
In addition to Lövkist, Columbia-Highroad's roster includes former Flèche Wallonne winner Kim Kirchen. Team manager Valerio Piva doesn't believe the Luxembourger will be starting as one of the favourites.
"Kim's first race back after being injured in the Tour of California was the Circuite de la Sarthe in France and that went well. But then he crashed in the GP Denain and finally opted to skip Amstel Gold," said Piva. "It's more likely that he'll use Flèche to concentrate on improving his condition than to go all-out for the victory, but you never know."
Orginalet från: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/apr09/apr21news
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"Eroica's finish is kind of similar to the final part of Flèche Wallonne, a very similar steep uphill climb to the line," Lövkist said. "Knowing that I did well in the Eroica helps boost my confidence for this one, too.
"Flèche Wallonne is a race which always comes down to the last climb of the Mur de Huy, and you have to be in the top 10 or 15 when you start it or there's no way you can win," he added. "Then half-way up there's a very steep S-bend, where you have to make a final acceleration if you want to cross the line in first place."
Lövkist believes Flèche Wallonne will be a good test of his condition ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "If you're no good in Flèche then you'll be no good in Liège, that's for sure. In that way it's a test," he said. "But I went well in the Tour of the Basque Country, although I didn't kill myself there, and I've got high hopes for the Ardennes Classics."
In addition to Lövkist, Columbia-Highroad's roster includes former Flèche Wallonne winner Kim Kirchen. Team manager Valerio Piva doesn't believe the Luxembourger will be starting as one of the favourites.
"Kim's first race back after being injured in the Tour of California was the Circuite de la Sarthe in France and that went well. But then he crashed in the GP Denain and finally opted to skip Amstel Gold," said Piva. "It's more likely that he'll use Flèche to concentrate on improving his condition than to go all-out for the victory, but you never know."
Orginalet från: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/apr09/apr21news
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