Patrick Levefere hinted that Omega Pharma-QuickStep will start the Tour of Flanders with three leaders.
Tom Boonen, the team’s most successful rider with three Ronde titles to his name, has been suffering with injury and illness all year, and crashed out of Gent-Wevelgem last weekend.
He started the Three Days of De Panne on Tuesday in a search for extra racing miles but the 2012 Flanders winner looks short of form compared to his two predicted rivals Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellara.
Sagan won Gent-Wevelgem while Cancellara romped to the win in E3 Harelbeke two days before.
With Boonen struggling to get on terms and Sagan almost toying with the opposition in De Panne, Lefevere has admitted that his team may change tactics to compensate.
“Sagan is so strong it’s like he’s playing little jokes with the others,” Lefevere told Cyclingnews after stage 1 of De Panne.
“He is using the right tactics and he put the sprinters’ team in a lot of pain.” – cyclingnews
