Crowd favorite Jens Voigt of Trek Factory Racing confirms the opinion shared by Fabian Cancellara, that the team after its recent transformation remains a “band of brothers” and maintains the same spirit of its beginnings, being formed around the riders that have raced with each other for years.

The German breakaway artist believes that the changes implemented to the team, in which the key riders appear to have a greater than usual impact on decisions connected with managing processes, have just bolstered the initial assumptions.

"We had a great start with Team Leopard in 2011 and I think we’re just reinforcing this band of brothers team right now for this year again," Voigt told reporters ahead of Trek Factory Racing’s presentation in Roubaix on Friday.

"I like teams that are run like that."

In spite of all of the changes over the past four seasons, the four riders who met the press on Friday afternoon – Voigt, Cancellara and the Schleck brothers – had all raced together in CSC, Saxo Bank, Leopard Trek and RadioShack jerseys.

"I think I’ve been racing for probably six or seven years with Andy, Fränk and Fabian. Obviously we have a good friendship, and I really believe that each one of us in these years could have got a euro or two euros more on another team, but we never chose to take that option because we like to work with each other," said Voigt.

"Actually I don’t think there’s been a group of riders that stayed together for so long like us, now that you mention it. I think we all four of us see that we are in a lucky position. We are friends who can still work together in a great environment."