Calpe – venue of several Vuelta a España stages in the past – will see the entire team reunite before the start of the new season.
The riders and staff of Quick-Step Floors will be heading to the Costa Blanca next week for the first training camp ahead of the 2018 season. After spending the past two Decembers in Denia, our team has now opted for Calpe, where between the 11th and 21st, the 27 riders making up the roster for next year will convene.
"Calpe usually provides perfect weather conditions for December training camps, and that's why so many teams are coming here. The training camp in December is an important step in the preparation for next season. Since November, the riders have gradually built up the training rides to 4-5 hours and now have reached a point where they have to put in more workload", said Koen Pelgrim, Quick-Step Floors' trainer.
"We have one group with riders who'll kick off the season early at the Tour Down Under, in January, another one for the classics riders, and the last one consisting of the climbers or GC guys. For the group starting at Down Under we do a bit more specific training with more intensity. Generally, the training is not too specific and intensity is not too high but we do train some sprints and lead-outs for the riders who are important for that. The group of climbers will of course do uphill training, but still low medium intensity, while some riders will focus also on time trial training."
The Calpe training camp will serve also as an excellent occasion for all the riders to spend some time together and bond ahead of next year, creating a strong group cohesion and working towards a new season they all wish to be successful.
Koen Pelgrim explained: "For 2018, we have several new and young riders in the group as well, however, we know them quite well and already did some testing earlier this year at the Bakala Academy. But the camp is a nice way for the new riders to become part of the group and socialize. The first days are usually quite busy with events off the bike, but we will do two blocks of three days, summing up to around 25-27 hours of training in the saddle. Should be a good foundation ahead of the start of the season."
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
