Dubai: UAE Team Emirates will line-up this Sunday at the challenging Gent-Wevelgem with 2016 Paris-Roubaix champion Filippo Ganna looking to replicate another victory in northern Europe at the ‘sprinter’s Classic’.

Italian Ganna said: “I’ll be back in northern Europe after last year’s win at Paris-Roubaix. This is a tough course and I know there will be a lot to learn but I’m ready and excited for this new challenge.”

The 249.2-km day race is renowned for its strong crosswinds during the first 130-km of flat fields, followed by numerous difficult ascents and technical descents. The course has a total of 11 steep climbs, the final is the Kemmelber — a cobbled hill that reaches an incline of 23 per cent at its steepest point. For the first time 5.2-km of the Gent-Wevelgem course will include three semi-paved, sloping country roads or tracks called ‘Plugstreets’.

At Gent-Wevelgem the wind, rain and low temperatures can be as brutal as the cobbles themselves.

Sporting Director Mario Scirea said: “Gent-Wevelgem is a very demanding race, especially if the weather conditions are bad. The wind affects the main group almost immediately and there is a huge push to get to the front positions at the start so riders can seize the crucial moments of the race.”

On Wednesday, UAE Team Emirates’ Marco Marcato finished 20th at the newly promoted, UCI World Tour day race, Dwars Door Vlaanderen in Belgium, with local cyclist Yves Lampaert of Team Quick-Step Floors claiming victory.

Marcato led younger teammates in the first race of the season in northern Europe and performed well in the predominantly flat section of the race, conserving enough energy to break away from the main bunch into an attacking group of 22 riders on the Eikenberg — a 1.2-km climb with a 10 per cent incline at its steepest point.

Lampaert broke away from the leading group of riders in the final kilometres with teammate Philippe Gilbert, Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Pro Team and Team Orica-Scott’s Luke Durbridge just behind.

Marcato finished the race in the first chaser group of 23 riders and teammate Sacha Modolo completed the race together with Marko Kump, Vegard Laengen and Simone Consonni, 01.54 behind Lampaert.

With its pavé (cobblestones) and multiple short but sharp climbs, the 203-km race makes for a challenging and exciting racing.

Marcato said: “I read the course well which is so important in this race. I felt good during the start and the main attack. When the four lead riders counter-attacked, there was a gap and unfortunately, I could not manage to bridge it. It was a good performance and has given me a boost to aim for a better result in the next few races.”

UAE Team Emirates is racing at the Volta a Catalunya until Sunday, March 26, E3 Harelbeke on Friday, March 24 and Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, March 26.