Male Team 08 Mar
GP Oetingen
119.3 Kilometers
After a brief stop ‘outside’ for the Strade Bianche, the Movistar Team returns to Flanders with an all-Spanish lineup to take part, during International Women’s Day no less, in the third edition -and the second appearance for the Blues- of the GP Oetingen, a 1.1 event preceding the weekend’s next WWT round in the Netherlands.
The 117km course is divided into two parts: an initial loop (24km, two laps), fearuring the Congoberg (1km at 5%) and the Rensberg (1.4km at 4.5%) plus a cobbled sector -Kasseide / Lieferinge (400m, relatively easy)-, and a final circuit, five laps of 12km each, with the main ascent of Bergstraat (700m, 4%) plus two cobbled sections, the previous one of Lieferinge and the Opperstebosstraat (1.1km, rougher).
Added to that, the crosswinds must be taken into account, most notably in the initial and central part of the circuit, even if the parcours is covered with trees and houses for the most part and it might not be that much of a factor.