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29 may 2012 - 10:05

Three weeks long an enthusiastic Lotto Belisol team races through Denmark and Italy. Red, blue and white were more than once in the spotlights and the boys of Bart Leysen and Marc Wauters got a win with Lars Bak, a 19th place in the general ranking with Francis De Greef, the most kilometers in front with Olivier Kaisen and a remarkable debut for Brian Bulgaç.

Sports Director Mars Wauters: "We were able to work for three weeks with a very motivated team which raced offensive. With Lars Bak we managed to get the win we hoped on and with Francis De Greef we got a top 20; that were our main goals before the start. Since we had nobody to compete for top 10, we had to show our offensive intentions. Olivier Kaisen played a big part in it and truly deserved his title of most combative rider in the Giro. The experience and motivation of Olivier and Lars got other rider to attack as well."

"Next to them Gaetan Bille, Brian Bulgaç and Dennis Vanendert started their first tour as neo prof. Their debut may be called successful. Brian got in front a couple of times, but because of some crashes he also had some hard days, but he showed character staying and finished his first Giro. He was really tired at the end, but congratulations on his persistence. For Bart De CLercq and Gianni Meersman the Giro was less than we expected. With thought Gianni could have won a stage, but unfortunately he didn't have that luck. Bart had a dream debut last year, with a stage win and a nice 26th place in the general ranking, it was harder for him this year. This year's Giro might be signal to him to try and learn something from riders like Jurgen Van den Broeck, who keenly works to his goals."

Francis De has put his best tour ranking down in five Giro's. With place 19 he can happily look back at the past three weeks.

Francis de Greef: "Before the start the team had said again to go for the general ranking. This was my fifth Giro and starts to look like ‘my tour'. Italy really speaks to me, but the Giro by far is the hardest tour there is. I've lost unnecessary time in one race, last Friday, because of mechanical problems. Because of that I had to ride 45 kilometers alone and missed some fitness on Saturday. In the hilly stages I've always tried to tag along as long as possible, keeping the time loss at a minimum. I also thought the participants list was very strong, even more strong than the last years. Teams like Euskaltel and Movistar also showed their power, whereas this wasn't the case during previous editions. The time gaps in the ranking also were minimal."

"With a body like mine it will be hard to finish top 10. Getting my 1.92m and 77kg over the mountains takes more from me, comparing to the light weights in the peloton. The only way to get close, will be to get away in a long escape with a great gap. Only this way I might have a go at a top 15 place. You also need some luck; Lots of time in this Giro I tried to get away, but didn't succeed."