Having missed the race since 2012, Jelle Vanendert wants to return to the Tour de France in July 2017.

Vanendert is determined to fight and work hard to regain his place in the team that will start from Dusseldorf in July. 

"It is still the Tour and I would like to be part of the team that will participate,” he told Belga.

Vanenert won on the Plateau de Beille in 2011 at his first participation.

“The enthusiasm is really back and I will fight for my selection. I want to do everything to help the team to be successful.”

The Belgian, who will begin his ninth year in the team, knows his selection will require good results in the spring and especially in the Ardennes classics. 

"I will continue to work very hard in view of my 'holy week' 'with the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège ,” said Vanendert who has finished second in Amstel twice. “My dream is to win one of these races before the end of my career. Even if the task is difficult, I will continue to give myself the means to achieve it.”