Keukeleire taking aim at first Classics victory in 2018
After seven years with the Australian-based Orica teams and a handful of close calls in the Classics, Jens Keukeleire is hoping his move this season to the Belgian team Lotto Soudal will be the extra lift he needs to climb onto a podium's top step this spring.
"It's strange to say, but it almost feels like coming home," the 29-year-old Belgian told Cyclingnews before the start of stage 6 at the Vuelta a San Juan. "It's a Belgian team, my first time as a professional rider, and so far it's everything I hoped it would be."
Keukeleire is hoping that the home-spun feeling translates into the win he narrowly missed out on last spring when he escaped with Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) near the end of Gent-Wevelgem, but then fell to the Olympic champion in the two-up sprint.
Orica has a formidable Classics squad, but the spring races are a staple of Belgian cycling, and Keukeleire believes the added emphasis can make a difference.
"I think so," Keukeleire told Cyclingnews when asked if moving to Lotto was an advantage in the Classics. "We've been progressing a lot the last four or five years with Orica, but still I think doing especially the cobbled Classics with a Belgian team is, I wouldn't say another level, but it is different. It's more important I think."
Keukeleire has adjusted his goals accordingly.
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