Max Warscheid and former winner Edvald Boasson Hagen will lead the NTT Pro Cycling team in Ghent-Wevelgem on Sunday. Sport director Lars Mikkelsen (also a former winner) says he expects the team's current underdog status to work in its favor.

Boasson Hagen, who won the race in 2009 as part of the Columbia High Road team, finished second in stage 7 of the 2020 Tour de France behind Jumbo Visma's Wout van Aert.

Warscheid won two stages and a points prize at the Tour de Langkawi in February and also raced in this year's Tour for the first time in support of Boasson Hagen and the team's main sprinter, Giacomo Nizzolo.

However, the team has struggled with results in recent seasons and is currently fighting to find a new sponsor after telecommunications company NTT announced late last month that it would not continue its support for the team in 2021.

"After the Tour de France, I think we are in good shape and motivated for the next classics. And I want to start that in Ghent-Wevelgem."

"I feel good and it was nice to have good weather for the last training ride before the race. I don't expect great conditions, but the conditions weren't great last week at the Bink Bank Tour, so I'm used to that.

"I've run this race once before, and while the main obstacles are the same, the rest of the route has changed a bit.

"The hills will definitely be tougher, and we may have a slight advantage in terms of short term memory, which is something we're not used to.

Mikkelsen Sportif has run this race 11 times in his career, winning in 1995 and finishing second to Frank Vandenbroucke in 1998.

"Obviously, we have a team that is considered the underdog. We need to deal with the fact that we are not the favorites to win the championship and put up a fight that will surprise some people."

"The Kemmelberg climb has been and will continue to be a key point in this race. It will be passed three times this year in Ghent-Wevelgem. Twice from the south and the last time from the north, which is a bit steeper with cobblestones on both sides.

"It also depends on the weather on the day. 'West Flanders is open, so it depends on the direction of the wind. I don't think it will rain heavily."

"The wind is a factor, and the time of year is another factor," Mikkelsen said, and the race was postponed from its usual late March date.