According to L’Équipe, Thomas Voeckler of Europcar is expected to kick-off his 2014 season at Volta ao Algarve in the end of February, after an unfortunate accident in the outskirts of Adelaide left the Frenchman with a broken collarbone but no hopes for participating at the Santos Tour Down Under, in which his team debuted this year as a World Tour squad.

Voeckler came back to France and undergone a successful surgery of his right collarbone, previously broken last year in a consequence of a crash he experienced at the Amstel Gold Race.

The Europcar rider told L’Équipe that he is recovering well after the surgery and aims to get back in the professional peloton before the and of February, particularly at Voola ao Algarve held in Portugal from February 19.

“I’m recovering well,” Voeckler told L’Équipe.

“I still have to talk about it with the team doctors and management, but I don’t imagine that I’ll return to competition any later than at the Volta ao Algarve.”

After starting new year in such an unfortunate manner, Voeckler is aware that it’s going to take some time before he will reach his top disposition, but even though he named the Paris-Nice his main target in 2014, the Frenchman doesn’t feel the big pressure to return to racing as quickly as he was forced to last year after the crash at the Amstel Gold Race.

“I’ll need to be patient, considering the delay I’ll have on the rest of the competition,” he said

“I'm certainly not in the same situation as last year after the accident at the Amstel Gold Race”