Two-time Tour of Flanders winner Stijn Devolder is changing up his schedule for 2010 to see if he can keep the results coming during the Spring Classics.
For the past couple of years the Quick Step rider has included the Tour de France in his race program, but this year he plans on skipping the Tour and expanding his spring campaign to include La Doyenne.
“The two weeks in April with the Paris-Roubaix and Ronde remains the most important,” Devolder told the VUM newspapers. “But I’ll use Brabantse Pijl as preparation for Liege-Bastogne-Liège.”
In previous years, Devolder took a break after Paris-Roubaix in order to get ready for the Tour de France. After a couple of bad Tours the Belgian has decided it’s best to revisit his plans.
“My experience over the past two years has been really bad. I will just ride the Vuelta in 2010.”
Now Devolder’s one-day race program will look much like that of compatriot Philippe Gilbert from Omega Pharma-Lotto, meaning we will likely see the powerful Belgians going head-to-head for much of the season. Gilbert ended 2009 on a hot streak winning four races in a row, closing it off with his victory in the Giro di Lombardia.