Jurgen Van Den Broeck will skip the Tour de France while André Greipel will do the Giro d'Italia and miss the Tour Down Under. Lotto Soudal has made lots of changes to its rider schedules to score more WorldTour points.

At the first training camp Marc Sergeant and the six sports directors talk to the riders about their race programme, to set the goals and to build up to these goals. Compared to 2014 there will be a different approach.

"Before New Year we draw the big lines of the different programmes," Manager Marc Sergeant said. "Each rider has to know what to expect. Of course we can't determine everything, but we try to for the first part of the year.

"The past years we started the season well, among other in the Tour Down Under where André Greipel won with the classic core of riders around him. But the same riders had to be good in the Belgian opening weekend and the rest of the spring classics as well, and that was difficult, so we choose a different approach now. No Tour Down Under for Greipel, Roelandts, Debusschere and Sieberg. And those who will compete Down Under won't race in February, to prepare for the next part.

"In nine of the fourteen WorldTour one-day races we got a top ten place at least. But in the Flemish races we missed out; we must be able to change that. A bigger problem were the stage races. We only set a (very) good result in the Eneco Tour and Dauphiné and in the Tour Down Under and Paris-Nice we had a close place in GC. But that's not good enough. The reality of modern cycling is that WorldTour points are important. So we have to focus on that. And as a Belgian team, we have to defend our honour in the Belgian races.

"In 2014 Wellens and Gallopin have proved to be a big value to the team. I expect they will confirm with a clear programme ahead. Tony will pass for the Flemish classics, Tim will ride his first Tour de France, the Ardennes classics and some one-week stage races. Also Jelle Vanendert can have a go again in the tougher classics and is a candidate for the Tour. Jürgen Roelandts hardly set any results last year, but he's a rider with a potential to set results in eight to ten of the fourteen WorldTour one-day races. We support him for that goal.

"Also the programme of Jurgen Van den Broeck and André Greipel is partly different. No one-day races anymore for Jurgen, but especially the stage races of one week, with next to that Giro and/or Vuelta. André will ride the Tour and Giro; where for the first time in years several nice sprint opportunities will come up. We also hope for a big result in the classics if a bigger group heads to the finish line.

"The aggressive racing style of riders like Gallopin, Wellens and hopefully also De Gendt and Roelandts is appreciated. I want to see my riders battle, get the maximum out of their abilities and not speculate too much. That's also the case for our young talents. Guys like Vervaeke, Benoot and Broeckx come from our own U23 team and will get the opportunity to further develop themselves without any pressure, just like Vallée, De Bie and De Buyst."