Edvald Boasson Hagen will lead the Dimension Data team at Amstel Gold Race one week after finishing fifth at Paris-Roubaix. The Norwegian national champion has been a revelation for the team this season with wins at the Tours of Qatar and Oman before animating the classics campaign, culminating in the 28-year-old's best result in a monument to date at the 'hell of the north'.
Boasson Hagen's best result at the Dutch race is 39th on his last appearance back in 2014 but was a bronze medallist at the 2012 Worlds which used the Cauberg finish of Amstel Gold Race.
"After Edvald raced his heart out at Paris-Roubaix, fighting for the win right into the Velodrome, we were happy that we could convince him to take the start of Amstel Gold," sports director Jens Zemke said of the team decision to take Boasson Hagen to the first of the three Ardennes Classics.
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Nathan Haas and Serge Pauwels will be called on to support Boasson Hagen with Zemke confident of a top result for his team after 248km of racing.
"He deserves our full support and are sure that he will be in the mix again," he added of Boasson Hagen. "He has good memories from the region as he finished on the podium of the World Championships when Valkenburg hosted the event in 2012. With a strong team, we are ready to perform and promote our BicyclesChangeLives project at the Amstel Gold Race."
South African national champion Jaco Ventur joins Eritrean national champion Natnael Berhane, and Omar Fraile in making their debut at the race while Youcef Reguigui returns having ridden Amstel Gold with the team last year, finishing in 120th place. Kristian Sbaragli also returns from 2015 when he was the best finisher for MTN in 20th place and adds a fast finishing option should a large group be contesting the victory.
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