Stijn Devolder was one of the big disappointments in 2014 as he failed to take a single win. What will 2015 bring for the former double Tour of Flanders champion? "I would certainly not write Devolder off," Trek sports director Dirk Demol tells Het Nieuwsblad.

Demol has been Devolder's mentor for years. "I won't write Stijn off, that's for sure," he says. ""We have not seen him in the results yet but he is on schedule. On his own request we have moved away from a preparation in Qatar and Oman and we opted for Bessèges and the Ruta del Sol. In the past two years, Stijn has had bad crashes in the Middle East. This year he did not want to do those races anymore."

Crashes marred Devolder's 2014 season. He hit the ground in Dwars door Vlaanderen and on two occasions in the Tour of Flanders. "It was shame," says Demol. "At that time, Stijn was in an incredible condition - better than I've ever seen him."

The Trek director is convinced that Devolder has not lost his qualitites despite being 35 years old. "At the moment he still needs to improve but in preparation for De Ronde, he will do the Three Days of West Flanders, Tirreno-Adriatico, Dwars door Vlaanderen, E3 Harelbeke and the Three Days of De Panne. Then he will be ready. Fabian obviously remains the leader, but Stijn  has done too many wonderful things  just to be another teammate. I expected him to have a protected role."