Wilco Kelderman got his season off to a solid start when he rode a consistent race at the Volta ao Algarve to finish 5th overall. The young Dutchman has now set his sights on Paris-Nice with increased confidence.

The Belkin Pro Cycling Team finished the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal today with fifth overall. Wilco Kelderman led the Dutch green and black team home with support from his men.

"The riders protected Wilco all day, particularly in the first kilometres for the first bonus sprint," Sports Director Nico Verhoeven explained. "The Spanish team Caja Rural [with Ruben Fernandez] wanted to get Wilco's fifth place but none of the GC riders took seconds in the first bonus sprint. A few kilometres later, six riders broke free, gained a two-minute gap and ate up the bonus sprint seconds."

Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) won the sprint at the finish. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma) took the overall of the five-day race by 19 seconds over Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) in second.

Kelderman finished 1-32 minutes back, just one second ahead of Ruben Fernandez (Caja Rural-Seguros) in sixth.

The fifth and final stage also saw Belkin's classic star, Sep Vanmarcke crash. He fell with a handful of other riders but jumped back on his feet immediately afterwards and continued.

"Sep crashed with a few others but came away okay," added Verhoeven. "He also crashed last year in Tirreno-Adriatico, and went on to second in Paris-Roubaix."

The teams, particularly Omega Pharma drove the pace until the finish. Cavendish won and Belkin's Tom Leezer took ninth place.

Kelderman races Paris-Nice in two weeks, March 9 to 16, with Lars Boom and a strong Belkin line-up. Verhoeven said that Algarve, his first race of the year, readies him perfectly for Paris-Nice.

"He's in good shape but this was only his first race of the year," Verhoeven added. "He time trialled well, not 100% but he felt good. Also, he climbed well in the mountain stages. It was not bad but not top."

Kelderman explained, "I felt I missed something and that's what I need to work on in the next two weeks ahead of Paris-Nice."