Much has been made of the Lotto-Belisol sprint train this year, and for as long as they continue to win so emphatically it is perfectly justifiable to wax lyrical about them. They are rightly drawing comparisons with HTC-Highroad, and when they click, they do so in style. At the centre of it all is Jurgen Roelandts, whose efforts for Andre Greipel have been central to the Gorilla’s four victories so far this season. And Roelandts was at it again on stage one.
When Omega Pharma-Quickstep left the door open for Lotto-Belisol to come forward there was still a lot of work to do, but Roelandts responded with a superb acceleration with Greipel on his tail. The move allowed Greipel to time his sprint into the slight headwind to perfection – several yards more and it may have proved too far. A third place overall in Qatar show Roelandts is more than capable on his own too, and in both Adelaide and Qatar his lead-outs have been such he was able to secure a top-ten finish for himself too. Much was made of Mark Renshaw’s reunion with Mark Cavendish but on current form it is Roelandts who is lead-out man par excellence.
