For Thomas De Gendt, 2015 has to be a year of redemption. After a failed season at Omega Pharma-Quick Step, he hopes to return to his best at the Lotto Soudal team.

On Wednesday, Thomas De Gendt showed himself for the first time this season. In the second stage of the Tour Down Under, he was one of the animators in  the early break of the day. It's that kind of work which De Gendt wants to use to put himself back on track.

"It was a hard start and that's the kind of start I like in a race," he said. "To get away in these conditions, you have to be one of the best in the field so I knew the riders away with me would only be good riders."

"At the team meeting this morning, we decided to ride GC for (Australian) Adam Hansen. Four years ago I also broke clear with (eventual overall winner) Cameron Meyer and I've done it with him at other races too. He was the strongest today. 

"In the intermediate sprints I wanted to take some seconds, not for myself but for taking them away from potential rivals for Hansen.”

“2015 should be my comeback year. Big attack, a whole day in front. It has taken too long for me to do that again,” he added in an interview with the Mediahuis newspapers.

"Last season I obtained no results. I was fully devoted to  the team. I was not bad, but probably it was not what it should be.

"I have finished the season with 65 race days while in previous years it was always close to 100. The advantage was that I spent more time with my family. I have seen my son Timo grow up.

"I played a bit with the rest of my career. Last year, after Hamburg I really thought that I was doing my last months as a pro rider. I'm very happy with my two-year contract with Lotto Soudal. It gives me peace in mind because the uncertainty impacts my legs.”

At Lotto Soudal, Thomas De Gendt wants to reach his 2013 level when he was more third in the Giro. "And I believe in it. My winter was excellent. I have not skipped any training. In bad weather, I was in the basement to ride on rollers," he said.

"I hate it, but I did two endurance riders of more than four hours there. Then I used a DVD with my greatest successes to motivate myself: the stages in Paris-Nice, the Tour of Switzerland, my raid on the Stelvio. After this season, I hope that I can say that I did it.”