Former Belgian champion says his form’s just not good enough
After finishing yesterday’s mountainous Tour de Suisse stage 2’36” behind winner Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Quick Step’s Stijn Devolder has come to a decision: No Tour de France this year. Despite staying with the overall contenders for much of the final climb to the Albulapass the Belgian was eventually dropped, causing him to question his fitness for next month’s race.
“I don’t have the legs; I don’t have enough power,” he told Sporza. “I’m good, but I’m not good enough to follow the top classification riders. Perhaps I should be satisfied though, because last year I couldn’t even dream of this level.”
After a disappointing classics campaign, the two-time Ronde van Vlaanderen winner bounced back to win the Tour of Belgium. Health problems since though have affected his preparations for the summer.
“It’s possible that my problems are a result of the stomach flu I had after the Tour of Belgium,” he said. “When I was training I couldn’t even follow my training plans.
“I have put the Tour out of my head,” he concluded. “I must be honest with the team and with myself and it makes no sense at all to worry my head with all this “shit”. In the autumn though, I would happily ride the Vuelta a España in preparation for the World Championships.”
These words are unlikely to please the former Belgian champion’s team. He was originally recruited in 2008 as a hopeful Tour de France contender; despite those two Ronde victories he has been under pressure from team manager Patrick Lefevere to deliver some results to match his position and salary.
It looks increasingly unlikely that Devolder will remain a Quick Step rider into 2010 though; there has been interest shown in signing him from a number of teams including RadioShack, where he would team up with the same management he rode under at US Postal and Discovery Channel, and the ambitious Vacansoleil team.