Jurgen Van Den Broeck admitted to visiting the doctor at the centre of a Belgian doping investigation but insisted that his consultations were for purely medical reasons(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Building intensity is the key for the Benicassim training camp(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Jelle Vanendert and Jurgen Van de Walle have a quick chat(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
A short pit stop for Jelle Vanendert(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Chain issues resulted for Jelle Vanendert resulted in some help from the mechanic(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
This will be the final camp for the Lotto Belisol camp before embarking on the 2013 season(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
A previous training camp took place in Majorca(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Some riders looked like they were doing it easier than others...(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Sergent said it was important to win a classic somewhere between Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The view up the road(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Thumbs up from Jurgen Van Den Broeck(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Lotto Belisol head out on the non-descript roads to the north of Valencia(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Lotto Belisol riders not scheduled to race the Santos Tour Down Under or La Tropicale Amissa Bongo have gathered in Benicassim, north of Valencia, Spain for the final training camp of 2013 before starting their season.
Building intensity is the major focus of this last camp, with the squad already having built up the kilometres during their pre-season training blocks. The riders showed off the team's colourful new 2013 kit for the season ahead, featuring the canary yellow right sleeve which is the major change away from the predominantly French navy, imperial red and white combination of 2012.
Team manager, Marc Sergent said that having some doubt over their 2013 season due to a UCI ranking of 17 has resulted in Lotto Belisol having an increased importance on all races, not just those on the WorldTour calendar.
"Our riders can also score points in the continental circuit," he said. "And that's where we have to do better in 2013. We have to start every race with a clear goal and we can't afford to just ride along anywhere. Every team agrees that the system to award points, set up the classifications and so the sportive criteria to assign the licences can improve. I hope this will change by 2014."
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