Christian Vande Velde said prior to the start of today’s Flèche Wallonne that Ryder Hesjedal and Dan Martin were the team’s protected riders for the race. Martin subsequently crashed out, but the Garmin-Cervélo team will put everything behind Hesjedal in a bid to help the Canadian challenge for a top result.
“I think they have good possibilities for the podium today,” Vande Velde said shortly before rolling out at the start of the hilly Belgian Classic. He said that he was very satisfied with how his preparations are going in the build-up to this year’s Tour de France; he’s avoided injury, has shown solid form, and is building gradually to what he hopes will be a very big peak.
Vande Velde was fourth in 2008 and knows that he is running out of time to tilt at a podium position. If all goes well, though, he can fight for a big result. A key to that is avoiding any problems in the build-up to the race and so he has decided to forego the Giro d’Italia this year. The Tour of California is next on his schedule after Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Before then, he’ll see what he can do to help the team take its second Classic of the year.