Van den Broeck leads Lotto

Belgium’s Van den Broeck, 29, finished fourth at this year’s Tour de France and, with a top-10 place at la Vuelta last year, will be looking to at least be in the mix in Spain.

He is the main man in the absence of sprinter Andre Greipel, who is rested for the mountainous tour after his exertions in France and at the London Olympics.

However, with the terrain of this year’s Vuelta favouring the climbers such as Alberto Contador and Chris Froome, Lotto Belisol are not expecting any fireworks in the General Classification.

"Before the start of the season, our goal was to win a stage in each of the three big tours," directeur sportif Marc Sergeant said. “In the Giro, Lars Bak succeeded and in the Tour (de France) we even got three wins with Andre Greipel.

"We have the same goals now for the Vuelta. With riders like Van den Broeck and (Gianni) Meersman we have a chance.

"The Vuelta of this year is made for climbers. There are nine arrivals on hills, all stages are held up north of Madrid and the Spanish riders will be very motivated, especially Contador and (Joaquim) Rodriguez."

Full squad: Jurgen van den Broeck, Adam Hansen, Bart De Clercq, Olivier Kaisen, Gianni Meersman, Jens Debusschere, Frederik Willems, Joost Van Leijen, Vicente Reynes