Two days ago, a delegation of Lotto Soudal took the plane from Brussels Airport to Málaga for the Vuelta that starts on Saturday. Beforehand team leaders Bart De Clercq and Maxime Monfort took the time to talk about their ambitions.

“Thanks to my performance at the Tour de Pologne, where I won a stage and got second on GC, I can leave for the Vuelta with a good feeling. The race in Poland was tough, so I took it easy afterwards. The past weekend I went to the Ardennes to train and the other training rides were rather short ones. I will start the Vuelta full of energy," De Clercq said.

“Top ten in the overall classification is ambitious, but with this condition I really want to aim for that goal; it’s definitely not unrealistic. In 2012, I was seventeenth and I always felt more was possible that time. Two years ago, I already had taken part in the Tour, but it was also going great at the Vuelta. Unfortunately, I crashed and had to abandon. I think I would have finished close to top ten.

“The stages in between the two rest days will be really tough. Also mentally you have to prepare for that battle. Those stages will be crucial for GC, especially the stage in Androrra will be spectacular. I know the area, but that doesn’t make it less hard of course.

"I’m glad there aren’t many steep climbs this year, because that’s not my cup of tea. It’s only in the sixteenth stage that we have a climb with parts above twenty per cent. But when the shape is good, all goes smoother, so it doesn’t scare me.

"If I get an opportunity to get a stage win I will grab it with both hands. It will be hot again during the Vuelta, but I cope with heat pretty easily, I set my best performances in warm weather. I prefer that instead of rain and cold.”

“I was satisfied with how I felt at the Tour de Pologne and this weekend I did some good training rides, perfect to head to the Vuelta," Monfort said. "I have the same plan as for the Giro: I keep a good GC in mind, but from the beginning of the Vuelta I also want to seize all opportunities. I want to race aggressively. In the Giro I joined a few breakaways the first days and then I had a good position on GC and focused on that.

“The start list for the Vuelta is impressive, that’s why I keep both feet on the ground. I’m glad Bart is also part of the team as GC rider, it’s always better to be with two than alone. We’re both in a good shape and are complementary.

"In the first week of the Giro we had some surprises in a few stages that had a relatively easy finish, but in the Vuelta we already get a finish on a third category climb the second day, so the spectacle will rather be between the GC riders, while in the Giro it was between escapees.

“The crucial phase will be in between the two rest days. The stage through Andorra after the first rest day is incredible: more than 5000 altitude metres in a stage of less than 140 kilometres. That’s never seen before! That’s scary for everyone. It will be very hard.

"I don’t know the steep climb in the sixteenth stage. That will be the third mountain stage in a row. I like the end of the second week, all those mountain stages after another. That’s one of my strengths: regularity. I hope to show something in those stages.”