Former World Champion Rui Alberto Faria da Costa wants to win another stage at the Tour de France. The Lampre-Merida rider will prioritize a stage win instead of the overall classification.

"I will change my plans there, and try to go for a stage win," the Portuguese national champion tells Cyclingnews. Currently present at the Volta al Pais Vasco, he showed he has good leg. "My condition is better than I expected, to judge by yesterday."

He is best known for winning the 2013 UCI Road World Championships in Tuscany, Italy – the first Portuguese to do so. He has won three stages of the Tour de France in 2011 and 2013.

His first main goal this season will be the spring classics. He detailed his schedule for the next weeks. "First I want to be good here then I’ll go on to the Ardennes Classics where I want to do well. After that it’s Romandie, before either tackling the Tour de Suisse or the Dauphiné. But I’ll be doing the Tour with different objectives this year, either way. Then there’s the Olympic road race, the course is very different to other years and a lot harder so I’ve got to aim to put on a good show there at the very least."