Belgian team behind Sylvain Chavanel’s bid to go better than his two second places
With Tom Boonen leading a strong Quick Step team in the Tour of Oman, the Belgian outfit is sending what it considers to be another one to the Volta ao Algarve. The five-day Portuguese race begins tomorrow in the south coastal town of Faro, and is one where the Quick Step team has enjoyed some success in recent years.
The team will be guided by Davide Bramati and Tom Steels, in the former Belgian sprinter’s first season in the team car. Sylvain Chavanel will lead the team, hoping to go one better than his second places of 2008 and 2009; he finished in a disappointing 13th place last year, largely thanks to a disappointing performance in the individual time trial.
“We’re starting out with a competitive squad,” explained Steels. “With the aim of doing well in the race, both in the climbing stages and the sprint finishes with [Gerald] Ciolek.
“As usual, the route is difficult and as always we’ll have to be careful and take advantage of every metre on the course. Luckily, the team boasts members like [Sylvain] Chavanel, who has already finished this race twice in second place, in 2008 and 2009. He and [Niki] Terpstra both will also have the advantage in the 17 kilometre-long time trial, in which they certainly could do well.”
Quick Step team to Volta ao Algarve:
Sylvain Chavanel, Gerald Ciolek, Kevin De Weert, Jerome Pineau, Francesco Reda, Kevin Seeldraeyers, Niki Terpstra and Kristof Vandewalle.