Jurgen van den Broeck is aiming to put a horrible injury-ridden 2013 firmly behind him by taking his first Tour de France podium in 2014. He has previously finished 4th twice, in 2010 and in 2012 but believes he can make the step up “That’s what we’re working for. It’s a nice parcours. The beginning wont be easy and then we’ve got the cobbles, which will be a tricky stage.” He told Cyclingnews.

Lotto will aim to once again combine van den Broeck’s GC ambitions with Andre Greipel’s sprint hopes but VDB doesn’t think this will hurt his chances: ”I think we've showed every year that we've been able to do it," said Van den Broeck. "We've found a way to be able to do it and it's worked out well. I'm not afraid of that. They (Sky and Astana) have another target. We want a podium and they're going for the win. If you want the win, that's another thing."

VDB will start his 2014 season at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina, a race where he finished 5th at this year. From there, it will be the Challenge Mallorca and then the Tour of Oman. He will then take on Tirreno-Adriatico for the first time to give him an early season challenge "I've done Paris-Nice before, but that's not really my race. I've never done Tirreno, so the decision was pretty easy to do that.”

Alongside the Tour, the Belgian will be targeting the Ardennes Classics. "I skipped them this year, but next year they're back on my program," the 30 year old said.

Van den Broeck has had a lot of time to reflect on his 2014 season, after his year was cut short on stage five of the Tour de France. He was caught up in a finish line crash as the peloton raced into Marseille. The Belgian immediately had to quit the race, suffering from ligament, cartilage and bone damage in the accident. As a consequence, he has been forced into surgery and physiotherapy on his knee, leaving him unable to race. “

"The first few months weren't so easy, because I was having to go to the physio every day for four or five hours. After a few months of doing those exercises every day you just get tired of it. I just wanted to go on the bike, but I wasn't good so I had to wait a little bit longer."

VDB returned to the bike in mid-October and is now back on from after attending Lotto-Belisol’s five-day training camp in November. With a committed team and no repeats of this year’s rotten luck, VDB could be at the front of his beloved Ardennes Classics and the 2014 Tour de France and he could be contending for a top result. Whether or not this is possible, only time will tell.