Team Quick Step is set to begin its season with a training camp from January 12th to the 21st. Manager Patrick Lefevere has opted to hold the camp in the warm weather of Benicassim, Spain.
“We’ll be doing different types of workouts,” explains team Trainer Luca Guercilena. “We’re breaking the guys up into two groups: one for the first part of the season and the other to work on follow up conditioning. Our aim for the first group is to give the finishing touch to the work we began in December, working mainly on tactical line-ups for sprints. The second group will work backwards concentrating on “volume” by starting to work on long climbs.”
The riders targeting the Tour Down Under that runs from January 20th to 25th, will not be attending the team’s traditional winter training camp.
“We leave from Amsterdam for Australia on January 13th,” explained Sporting Director Rik Van Slycke. “We arrive in Adelaide on January 14th and will take a few days to adjust to the jet lag and time difference. On the 18th there will be a circuit in the centre of Adelaide. Then starting on the 20th we’ll be competing in the Tour Down Under.”
The Tour Down Under team will include Allan Davis, who has always participated in the race every year, team newcomers Dries Devenyns, Kurt Hovelijnck and Francesco Reda, Davide Malacarne, Hubert Schwab as well as veteran Matteo Tosatto.