Belgian climber credits Lance Armstrong’s former mechanic as well as a winter of hard work



Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) has hailed his sixth place finish in Sunday’s Volta ao Algarve time trial as his best performance against the clock in years, according to Sporza. The Belgian climber, whose recent time trialling weakness has been identified as something he needed to improve if he were to be a genuine contender in races like the Tour de France, lost just 28 seconds to World time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) in the 25.8km test; more importantly, his similar deficit of just 28 seconds to stage winner Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) - who should be one of his rivals for the yellow jersey this July - indicates that the work he has done over the winter has paid off.



“I’m amazed, that was my best time trial in years,” he told the Belgian media. “It’s great to see that the work that I did in the winter has worked.



“Today I felt that I had more power in my legs,” he added. “I think it had a lot to do with my bike.”



Van Den Broeck was not always so slow against the watch, as his World junior title from 2001 and past medals at elite national championships attest. As he has developed as a rider though, the 29-year-old from Herentals has concentrated on his climbing however, which had a detrimental effect on his power on the flat.



His fifth place in the 2010 Tour de France [which has since been elevated to fourth after the retrospective disqualification of race-winner Alberto Contador - ed] could have been better, since he was chasing fellow climber Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) in the penultimate day’s time trial. He managed to take more than a minute out of the Olympic champion, but it was only thanks to an even worse performance from Robert Gesink (Rabobank) that he didn’t lose his position.



With almost 100km of time trialling in this year’s race, the Belgian has recognised the need to improve in the discipline, and has spent much of the off season working on his technique and position.



With Lotto-Belisol’s change of bike sponsor over the winter, Van Den Broeck has switched from a Canyon Speedmax CF, to a Ridley Dean. It’s not the brand of bike that he credits for his improvement though, but the man who put it together and maintains it; Lotto-Belisol mechanic Chris Van Roosbroeck spent a number of years looking after the bikes of none other than seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong.



“He has already given me some great tips,” said Van Den Broeck. “These were quickly adopted in my position, which is why he was really important for this time trial.



“I have the mechanic of Armstrong,” he joked. “Hopefully he will give me his legs.”