26-year-old Bart de Clercq is about to start his first Tour de France.

He started his professional career in 2011 and immediately rose to prominence in his first Grand Tour the same year, holding on by the slimmest of margins to win the 7th stage of the Giro d’Italia finishing at the Montevergine di Mercogliano sanctuary. De Clercq went on to finish 26th overall.

The following year he returned to the Giro and took home a 40th place before breaking into the top-20 at the 2012 Vuelta with a 17th place brought about by consistent, if somewhat anonymous performances.

Now the Belgian is ready for the biggest Grand Tour: “It’s an honour for me to be selected for the Tour de France, after all it’s the most important race on the calendar,” de Clercq said. “From the moment you become pro, you hope to ride the Tour someday. It definitely gives me confidence that the team lets me start here. I’m going to give one hundred percent. At the moment it’s still quiet here in Corsica, there’s not that much pressure yet, but of course the big rush still has to come.”

“First of all my task will be to work for the team; for Jurgen van den Broeck in the general classification and for André Greipel on sprint stages. Of course it’s possible to get into a break on the more mountainous stages. There are possibilities for an escape to survive. We have to see how the race develops.”

“If I’m on the attack that’s also good for van den Broeck; and if the break makes it to the end – if there’s nobody who is dangerous for the GC riders – I can take my chance. Otherwise I hope to be able to assist van den Broeck as long as possible in the mountains.”