Canberra cycling star Michael Matthews will lead Team Sunweb in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as he begins his 2019 campaign in Belgium on Sunday.
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Sunweb coach Marc Reef expected Matthews to be a contender to win the Omloop, a race he crashed out of last year.
The 28-year-old
in last year's edition - an injury that severely disrupted his season - but Reef was confident he would be in the mix for the win with the help of his teammates.
"We have Michael as our leader in the opener of the Flemish Spring Classic season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this weekend," Reef said.
"We expect him to play a role in the final of the race, with the final support of both Casper [Pedersen] and Søren [Kragh Anderson], who showed his great shape this last week in the Algarve.
"Michael will take the experience of last year with him, where unfortunately a crash took him out of the race after being in the first group leading up towards the Muur [one of the iconic climbs in the race]."
