When RadioShack signed Stijn Devolder after a few years of near anonymity at Vaconsoleil, many saw the signing as a huge gamble. But during the closing kilometres at this year’s Tour of Flanders, it was Devolder who was holding it all together for Fabian Cancellara. He was also a surprise winner of the Belgian Road Race title in June.

Luca Guercilena, Trek manager, is rumoured to have bigger plans for Devolder this year as a result of his work in Flanders, as a domestique and a potential back up should Swiss star Cancellara falter. 

“The main goal is to go with Fabian as the big leader, especially when he has the same condition as last year,” Devolder told Cyclingnews. “I’ll also try to be in good shape, and if something happens or Fabian isn’t on a good day, I can take over. But for now, the idea is to go with one leader in Fabian.”

Devolder himself has won Flanders twice, in 2008 and 2009, while he was a teammate of Tom Boonen and his lack of captaincy prompted his move to Vaconsoleil, where he failed to win a single race.

An advantage of working for Cancellara is that he is less in demand at races such as De Panne or while he is training, hence the reason he slipped away to Spain between Ghent-Wevelgem and Flanders this year to get the miles in. 

Despite the changes to the parcours, the Koppenberg has been moved closer to the finish, Devolder sees the race panning out in a similar way to 2013: “I think the race next year is going to be quite the same: the race is going to explode on the last time up the Kwaremont. Those two last climbs, Kwaremont and Paterberg are going to decide who is going to win the Tour of Flanders,” said Devolder, who, quite understandably, prefers the old finish in Meerbeke. “It’s not so easy to attack early on the new course.”

As for the Koppenberg: “I don’t think that makes a big difference. If anything, I think the race is going to be even more closed because everyone will be afraid of the Koppenberg and everyone will wait to do something because they are scared to go over the Koppenberg.”

He is one of a few remaining supporters of former director Johan Bruyneel. 

“I signed the contract with Johan right before the Armstrong case started,” Devolder said. “I was actually very disappointed that he couldn’t be with the team any more because Johan was a very good sports director. I liked to work with him, and I learned a lot from Johan Bruyneel in the years with Discovery Channel and US Postal. Actually, I miss him.”

Support for the man banned from cycling is potentially not the best thing to do, so Devolder is quick to point out that while he deserved a ban, h has been ostracized when others were let off lightly: “We all know that he’s not the only one who was in this situation. There were also a lot of other teams and other people. He had a life suspension and the others had just a short penalty or even nothing.”