Maxime Monfort didn't reach his pre-race goal of a top 10 finish in the Giro and now he will try to make amends in the Vuelta which he claims is better suited to his characteristics. His teammate Jens Debusschere is targeting success in the sprints.

With his participation in the Vuelta, Maxime Monfort will be riding his second grand tour of the year. This years' Giro resulted in a 14th spot in the overall standings. In Spain he is aiming for a result as good as possible.

"'A result as good as possible', that is the phrase I want to use," he said. "Everyone expected me to be in the top ten in the in the Giro, but due to the race conditions that was not possible. The participants in this Vuelta are the strongest in years.

"But usually the Vuelta suits me better than the Giro. Lotto Belisol is at the starting grid with a strong team with amongst others Jurgen Van den Broeck and Bart De Clercq, and September suits me also more than May. Also the stages are shorter in the Vuelta compared to the Giro.

"About Jurgen and I aiming for the same goal? I don't see the problem in that. Jurgen starts in this Vuelta with another attitude than he had in the Tour. If it turns out we're both good, we can certainly benefit from that. I went through this already with Jakob Fuglsang with RadioShack, and that also worked out."

Jens Debusschere has another goal. In 2012 he couldn't finish the Vuelta, finishing this years' in order grow stronger is now the main goal. But riding in the Belgian tricolor he hopes to show himself in the bunch sprints.

"If I go for a stage win? I already got that question before but it's not that simple," he said. "The level in the Vuelta is of course higher than in the Tour of Wallonia. And with among others Bouhanni, Degenkolb and Sagan, the contesters are strong. But I dream about it.

"I start in Spain with clear goal and that is to show myself in the four or five upcoming bunch sprints. Since the Belgian Championships I started training to improve my sprinting speed. The team doesn't puts pressure on me, but shows confidence. For the first time I can go my own way in a grand tour and test my limits.

"Before the season started the Tour of Spain was already programmed in my scheme, but now there is a clear goal too. I gained a lot of experience in the sprinting train of Greipel and guys like Henderson and Ligthart will certainly stand by my side."