Get used to the name Mauri Vansevenant, because you’ll be hearing it for some time yet.
Riding his first full season in the WorldTour, the west Flandrien outkicked riders of the vintage of Bauke Mollema and Mikel Landa to win the GP Industria & Artigianato, placed 11th overall at Itzulia Basque Country, and has proven one of the revelations of the Ardennes classics.
And now Deceuninck-Quick-Step’s young pup is set to play wingman for world champ and father-figure Julian Alaphilippe at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
“Mauri is a golden nugget,” Alaphilippe said ahead of Liège. “He has shown incredible things at such a young age. He has a strong character, but is a very sweet boy. Very eager to learn too. I know that I am an example to him, so I try to advise and assist him. He will make a lot of progress. Don’t worry: we haven’t seen the last of that boy yet.”
This week isn’t all about the Ardennes.
The Tour of the Alps kicks off Monday and a swathe of grand tour stars are set to race across a saw’s tooth five-stage
parcours. With the Giro d’Italia just 20 days away and the Tour de France looming on the horizon, this week’s Alpine tour sits perfectly placed for stage-racing greats to tune-up and tweak their three-week engines.
From the future of Chris Froome and Thibaut Pinot, to the pink jersey quests of Simon Yates and Jai Hindley, there will be some must-watch storylines spinning out of the Austrian and Italian mountains this week.