There will be no Tour de France for Tim Wellens next year. The Belgian and his Lotto Soudal team have decided that the young climber will focus on the Giro d'Italia like he did in 2014 when he finished second in two stages of the Italian grand tour.

"Tim has had a difficult year in the Tour," Lotto manager Marc Sergeant tells Het Belang van Limburg. "It mainly went wrong for him in the period between the Walloon classics and the Tour. Tim is too good to do too much. Therefore, he has also indicated that he prefers to do the Giro again. That works better with the Walloon classics as he can take the form from those races to Italy."

Wellens has also put his sights on doing the road race at the Olympic Games in Rio. It takes place on August 6, shortly after the Tour, on a very hilly course.