They've finally put up the starting list for Het Volk and the usual suspects are lined up to fight it out. Quick Step should be the favorite considering they're A) Belgian B) have the first two finishers from last year C) one of them is Tom Boonen and D) make it a priority to win any and every classic / semi-classic on Belgian soil (or within 100 miles of Belgiums borders).
Davitamon should give them a tussle simply because they've got an onform McEwen, and I think you can thrown in Discovery (very hardy Belgian contingent with Dirk Demol as DS), CA (Thor Hushovd), T Mobile (Stephen Wesseman), Unibet (a fit Cookie), Liquigas (Big Maggie), the Dutch Bankers (Horillo and Wauters) and of course CSC (because they would contest a club criterium if they could get to it). One strange name I see on the roster for CSC is Stuey O'Grady. Unless he took a flight directly from California at the end of yesterday's stage, I don't see how he's getting home in time or shape to contest this race. If he does I'll be pretty impressed, especially considering the 8 hour time difference he's flying through. Maybe this is a new motivational ploy by Bjarne - telling a rider it's one day when it's really another, hoping he'll get confused and ride better. We'll see.