Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) in yellow (Image credit: João Dias)
Quick Step's Stijn Devolder is worried about the affect a crash at the Volta ao Algarve will have on his upcoming races. The Belgian was one of four riders from the Quick Step team to crash on the Portuguese event's final stage, while defending the yellow jersey worn by Devolder.
After winning the event by 22 seconds over Cofidis' Sylvain Chavanel, Devolder started feeling pain in his right wrist while flying to Brussels on Sunday evening.
"I'm a little worried," said Devolder. "Yesterday evening the pain was really strong; today it feels a little better. I trained for about an hour, but just to recuperate better from the flight.
The Algarve event was Devolder's first with the Quick Step team, with the outfit signing the Belgian after the closure of his former squad Discovery Channel at the end of 2007. Devolder claimed the race's Individual Time Trial on Saturday, taking the general classification lead which he held through the following day's final stage.
"I'm mostly worried about the cobblestones we'll be confronting in the next races," he added. "The training on the Het Volk course Wednesday will be a very important test."
Mauro Facci, Wilfried Cretskens and Davide Viganò were also involved in the Quick Step crash on Sunday's stage. Viganò was taken to hospital for a precautionary check up, but was later cleared of any injury, while the remaining trio continued the race to ensure the team took the overall victory.
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