Competitions

Quick-Step Cycling Team to the upcoming races

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Parent Category: Competitions

Category: Race 2011

Published on Thursday, 28 July 2011 15:36

Written by Luca Salvatelli

It will be an intense weekend for Quick-Step Cycling Team. On Saturday, July 30th, the team will be busy on the roads of the Clasica San Sebastian, which has already been good to the team’s colours in the past.

"We’re lining up for the start with a squad made up of 6 riders who recently participated in the Tour de France. They’ll be backed up by Marco Bandiera and Julien Vermote, who rode in the Tour de Wallonie and who are proving to be in good form" explains Sports Director Davide Bramati. "In general the group that’s coming off the Tour is in good shape. On paper the leader of the team is Sylvain Chavanel, but there will also be space for athletes like Devenyns, Terpstra and De Weert, who have been standing out for their brilliant performances these last few weeks. We’re starting off with the intention of gaining some good individual and team results, trying to earn some important points for the team rankings in the UCI World Tour."

Starting Sunday a part of the team will be lining up for another race on the UCI World Tour Calendar - that is, the 68th edition of the Tour de Pologne.

"The Tour de Pologne will mark a return to racing for our athletes, who are lining up for the start after an important training period," said Marco Velo. "The Polish race ideally opens the second part of the season. We’ll have Tom Boonen in the race, who’s the leader of this team and who definitely wants to make up for being forced to withdraw from the Tour de France. However, there are also other athletes who we’re expecting good things from, like Chicchi, Cataldo and Seeldraeyers."

The Polish stage race will also be the start of the second part of the season for one of the most anticipated riders, Tom Boonen.

"In the last 10 days I’ve been working out really well," said Boonen, "without any particular problems from my fall in the Tour. I’m trying to further improve my conditioning, which was already fine in France. I had an excellent week of training with some challenging rides but also with the right recuperation times. Now I’m feeling really good on my bike. I’m looking forward to Poland. I have the ambition to put myself to the test and try to win a stage. Also on the climbs I’m going to try to hang in there more than I have in the past, to see how far I’ve come. It will be interesting to return to racing in the Tour de Pologne; this is the race where I made my professional debut in 2000. I’ve had a look at the route and I noticed that almost all the stages that are adapted to my skills end up on a city circuit. On these types of tracks it’s important to have a good pedal flow and to never get caught off guard. These are normally gnarly routes. I think in the future more and more races will be held on circuits. They cause fewer problems from an organizational standpoint and they’re easier for spectators to access, especially in big cities. Poland is definitely an important race in my program as I prepare for the Vuelta and the World Championship."

30.07 San Sebastian (ESP) WT

Riders Marco Bandiera (ITA)

Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)

Kevin De Weert (BEL)

Dries Devenyns (BEL)

Addy Engels (NED)

Jerome Pineau (FRA)

Niki Terpstra (NED)

Julien Vermote (BEL)

Sports Director Davide Bramati (ITA)

Length 234.0 km

Start 11:10

Finish 17:29

31.07-06.08 Tour de Pologne (POL)

Riders Tom Boonen (BEL)

Dario Cataldo (ITA)

Francesco Chicchi (ITA)

Marc de Maar (NED)

Davide Malacarne (ITA)

Francesco Reda (ITA)

Kevin Seeldraeyers (BEL)

Kristof Vandewalle (BEL)

Sports Director Rik van Slycke (BEL)

Marco Velo (ITA)

Stages

31.07.11 Stage 1 Pruszkow - Warszawa 101.5 km

01.08.11 Stage 2 Czestochowa - Dabrowa Górnicza 159.6 km

02.08.11 Stage 3 Bedzin - Katowice 135.7 km

03.08.11 Stage 4 Oswiecim - Cieszyn 176.9 km

04.08.11 Stage 5 Zakopane - Zakopane 201.5 km

05.08.11 Stage 6 Terma Bukovina - Bukowina Tatrzanska 207.7 km

06.08.11 Stage 7 Kraków - Kraków 128.0 km