Belgian team aiming for stage win and top ten overall
Multiple Grand Tour stage winner Tom Boonen and all rounder Kevin De Weert will be two prominent riders on the Quick Step team in the upcoming Vuelta a España, with the lineup being confirmed by the squad today.
The duo will be joined by fellow Belgians Nikolas Maes, Kevin Seeldraeyers and Kristof Vandewalle, the Italians Dario Cataldo and Davide Malacarne, French attacker Sylvain Chavanel and the Dutchman Marc de Maar. The nine riders will get their Spanish Grand Tour campaign underway this Saturday with a team time trial in Benidorm.
“The formation for the Vuelta is essentially balanced, with athletes who have a good chance in the rankings and on the climbs, as well as a few stage hunters,” said directeur sportif Rik Van Slycke.
Boonen will be amongst those stage hunters, the Belgian being keen to clock up some good results after what has been a quiet season. He has taken just two wins, namely Gent-Wevelgem and a stage of the Tour of Qatar, and was forced to pull out of the Tour de France due to concussion. Riding the Vuelta will give him a chance to chase more wins, and also to get ready for the world championships in Copenhagen.
De Weert had a strong Tour de France, finishing 13th overall.
Van Slycke gave his assessment of each rider and what their role will be. “Curacao National champion De Maar, Cataldo and Seeldraeyers are growing after their Tour de Pologne,” he stated. “They’re ready to try to defend themselves in the general classification for the toughest stages in a Vuelta which promises to be one of the most challenging in recent history, in terms of altimetry.
“Riding in their support will be Vandewalle, Maes, Malacarne and De Weert, who, after an excellent Tour, will try to make himself useful to the team and perhaps figure as a major player in some stages. The squad is completed by Boonen, who’s hungry for success and fine-tuning his conditioning for the World Championship; then there’s French Champion Chavanel, from whom we’re expecting some good performances on the stages most adapted to him.
“The team’s main objective in to take home at least one stage and to try to get one of their men into the top ten rankings of the race.”
Quick Step for Vuelta a España:
Tom Boonen (BEL)
Dario Cataldo (ITA)
Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)
Marc de Maar (NED)
Kevin De Weert (BEL)
Nikolas Maes (BEL)
Davide Malacarne (ITA)
Kevin Seeldraeyers (BEL)
Kristof Vandewalle (BEL)
Sports Director Davide Bramati (ITA)
Rik van Slycke (BEL)
Marco Velo (ITA)