It hasn’t been a perfect year so far for Jurgen Van Den Broeck, since knee injury sustained in the Tirreno-Adriatico crash has seriously hampered his preparations ahead of the season’s biggest objective, the Tour de France. The 31-year old Belgian himself dismissed suggestions that a good result in the French grand tour is his sole ambition as a professional cyclist and intended to perform well in Ardennes classics, but his appearance in the upcoming Criterium du Dauphine will be decisive indication whether he should be included in the Lotto Belisol roster for the greatest of three-week events.

Despite participating in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana twice in his career, it was always all about the Tour de France for the 31-year old Van Den Broeck. The Lotto Belisol rider finished the French grand tour fourth on two occasions and even though the echoes of a serious knee injury sustained during his last appearance in the event in 2013 accompanied him almost until now, Belgian rider aims to finally claim a podium spot on his return.

Van Den Broeck’s appearance at this year’s Tour de France is still uncertain, however, as Lotto Belisol aims to use the Criterium du Dauphine as a final test of his disposition. The 31-year old Belgian has just finished a block of training at altitude and insists that the ‘sensations’ were good, but his team is still uncertain about his ability to live up to high expectations in a demanding three-week event, following prolonged knee problems additionally worsened by the Tirreno-Adriatico accident.

Even though Lotto Belisol insist that the decision is all about taking care of Van Den Broeck’s fragile psychic, in fact, it all comes down to deciding whether to divide their roster into serving two different objectives or to build it exclusively around Andre Greipel and his lead-out train.

"If his Dauphiné is bad, then it makes no sense that we send him to the Tour,” director sportif Herman Frison told Het Nieuwsblad. “We do not want to punish him, but to protect him. If he starts the Tour then there will be expectations from him, us and the public. It would not be fair to send him if we know that he cannot meet those expectations. For clarity, Jurgen fully supports our decision."

“We do not expect that he will win the Dauphiné,” said Frison.

“We just want him to get better. But what if he was shattered after two days and had to leave, then it is clear that he can’t do anything at the Tour. Then we will try to strengthen our train for (André) Greipel.

"I only get positive signals from the Sierra Nevada. Mentally he is once again firmly in his shoes. The problem is and remains his knee,” Frison explained. “He had never been so heavily injured, he has never had to rehabilitate so much. Maybe he paid the price during the classics, but all that work will sooner or later pay off, I'm sure.