Strong riding from Stijn Devolder won him his home race (Image credit: www.ispaphoto.com)
Stijn Devolder was thrilled to win the Tour of Belgium for the second time on Sunday. The Quick Step rider is now considering riding the Tour de France in July.
He took the overall victory through a third-place finish in Saturday's time trial and second on Sunday's queen stage. “I was pretty angry with myself after the individual time trial in Herzele, since I lost too much time in the corners. I wanted revenge,” he told the Belga news agency.
Devolder and Sunday's stage winner Ben Hermans of RadioShack were part of an escape group which also contained Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Philippe Gilbert of Omega Pharma-Lotto. Devolder and Hermans were able to break clear near the end and divide up the stage win and overall title between themselves.
Over his career Devolder has been significantly more successful in one-day races rather than stage races,and had said that this year he would skip the Tour de France. Even after criticism from team manger Patrick Lefevere this year that he concentrated too much on the Tour of Flanders, which he won in 2008 and 2009, Devolder repeated his decision to concentrate on the Spring Classics and not ride the Tour.
However, his improved form may make him change his mind. "We must see. I must decide together with the team. But if I am really welcome, it is likely,” he told the Belgian website Sporza.
His next races are the Tour de Suisse and the Belgian national championships.
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