Britain's Dan Lloyd is fighting for a chance to represent super team Garmin-Cervélo at the Tour of Flanders next Sunday in Belgium.
"To be honest, I don't think I have done quite enough to make it on to the Flanders team," Lloyd said.
"In any other team, I'd probably be on the eight-man team, but it's not any other team. It's one of the best, the strongest classics team in the world in terms of how many of us there are to go for the final eight places."
Lloyd raced the Tour of Flanders the last two years, in 2009 he made one of the escapes after the steep Paterberg climb. After his former Cervélo TestTeam merged with Garmin over the winter, management has a wealth of talent to select from.
World Champion Thor Hushovd, Tyler Farrar and Heinrich Haussler will lead Garmin-Cervélo; and Brit Roger Hammond, Andreas Klier and Johan Van Summeren are in the second string. Only two spots remain if all six race.
"At this point," said team general manager Jonathan Vaughters, Lloyd "is probably down for Flanders and probably not for [Paris-] Roubaix."
"It was one of my big goals at the start of the season, so if I don't make it, it will be bit of a disappointment," added Lloyd. "I've been honest with myself and the team, I've tried my hardest, but things have clicked yet."
Lloyd suffered a setback with two crashes in the Tour of Qatar in February and an untimely punctured in the Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday. He hopes everything "clicks" today in the E3 Prijs in Harelbeke, Belgium. Vaughters and advisor Peter Van Petegem will be watching, both are in the team's first support car.
Regardless of Flanders, Lloyd will continue his classic season with the Brabantse Pijl on April 13 and Amstel Gold on April 17. It will be his first appearance in Amstel Gold, where he will support last year's runner up Ryder Hesjedal.
Lloyd returns to England afterwards, he has to, his wife is expecting the couple's first child together at the end of the month. They've yet to select a name for the boy.
Related links
Daniel Lloyd: Rider Profile
Spring Classics 2011: Cycling Weekly's coverage index
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