Without top sprinter Tom Boonen (knee injury), Quick Step will be forced to accumulate their stage victories in other fashions. The original plan was to build the team around Boonen in order to set him up for sprinting stages, but after he was ruled out of contention they were forced to rethink their approach. They will mainly be relying on two men to possible move into position for a win or two. The first is Carlos Barredo.
Barredo will look to grab a stage win early on in the tour, when the race is still outside of France. He has strong legs, and can last if in a breakaway. The difficult part for Barredo will be getting into that breakaway. Much of the same is true with Sylvain Chavanel.
Chavanel is also a good all around rider, and can survive in a breakaway if he is able to find one. I also believe that he holds the best opportunity of giving Quick Step a high finish. He holds a few high finishes in assorted races throughout his career, and could potentially do it this time. There are also a few other good riders in Devenyns, Pineau, and De Weert.Full Roster:
Sylvain Chavanel
Carlos Barredo
Francesco Reda
Dries Devenyns
Kevin De Weert
Jerome Pineau
Kevin Seeldrayers
Jurgen Van De Walle
Maarten Wijnants
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