Belgian squad building form under bright sun
Benefiting from bright, mild conditions, nineteen Omega Pharma Quick Step riders including big names such as Classic specialists Tom Boonen and Sylvain Chavanel, Grand Tour contender Peter Velits and top time trialists Tony Martin and Bert Grabsch are currently training in Benicassim, Spain.
“It will be an important training camp for the team,” trainer Tom Steels said recently. “Regarding January’s camp, we’re going to be focusing more on some specific tasks. The aim is to work on rhythm and speed so we’ll be ready in the first races of the season, starting with the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.”
The riders are likely to be divided into different groups, with those who need to be in shape sooner needing to do more intensive work.
Ten are missing; this number includes Levi Leipheimer, who has been given the green light to stay in California while training for the Tour de San Luis, plus track riders Niki Terpstra and Iljo Keisse.
Also absent are the riders for the Santos Tour Down Under, namely Gerald Ciolek. Gert Steegmans, Matt Brammeier, Andy Fenn, Serge Pauwels and Matteo Trentin.
The team has released a fine set of 21 photographs from the camp; to access the gallery, click on the first shot below.
setValue(“sharealbum”,”80″,”http://www.velonation.com/desktopmodules/mymediaview/viewalbums.ashx?portalid=0&aid=92&gid=60&mmid=614&rc=4&cs=2&width=128&num=4″);