Tom Pidcock and Filippo Ganna will both line up for Ineos Grenadiers at Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday after overcoming recent injury setbacks.
Pidcock returns to racing for the first time since crashing out of Tirreno-Adriatico and missing Milan-San Remo through concussion, while Ganna bounces back from a knee knock sustained at Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem.
Ineos confirmed both riders in their final line-up, with Kim Heiduk, Jhonatan Narvaez, Ben Turner, Magnus Sheffield and Connor Swift also in the seven-rider squad.
Pidcock’s concussion threatened to knock his Classics campaign out of shape after he stormed to victory at Strade Bianche. His comeback confirms his spring is back on track, with the Tour of Flanders still a possible goal.
Pidcock was never scheduled to race E3 Saxo Classic or Gent-Wevelgem and despite being cleared to race last week, he decided against adding them to his programme.
Ineos Grenadiers boss Rod Ellingworth indicated to Cyclingnews that there were no concerns over Pidcock’s form, despite the lost racing and training.
“Tom’s doing fine, he’s all good. He’s all set for Wednesday and will play a key role for us on Sunday,” Ellingworth said.
“He followed the concussion protocol to the letter and he has picked up training again, so he’s in a good place.”
Ganna is not scheduled to ride the Tour of Flanders and it remains highly unlikely despite the fact that he lines up at Dwars.
The Italian, who was runner-up to Mathieu van der Poel at Milan-San Remo, was 10th at E3 Saxo Classic in his first proper crack at the cobbled Classics, but crashed out of Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday.
The team reported that Ganna had some swelling around his knee from the impact but later indicated that there are no major problems and that he’ll line up in Roeselare for Dwars.
Ineos’ Classics director Ian Standard suggested to Cyclingnews the squad for De Ronde is “very much open” but Ganna, after a bruising experience in the chase at E3 then a crash on Sunday, is expected to leave Belgium and train at home in Italy with focus on Paris-Roubaix.
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