Sports director Dirk Demol worked hard to make Trek sign Gert Steegmans. "Last year I had the feeling that Fabian Cancellara was often alone," Demol explains the reason for signing the Belgian. "W don't take hom just because he didn't have a team."

It was Dirk Demol himself who persuaded with the management to sign Gert Steegmans. "This season I had noticed that we could use Gert for the classics. After all, Fabian (Cancellara) was alone in some situations," Demol tells Sporza.

"For two years, I have worked with Gert, one year at Quick-Step and one year at RadioShack. As a leader, he doesn't work very well but when he can ride at the service of a top rider, he is at his best.

"Gert knows that we only have one leader in the big races, but in certain races he have a chance to go for himself. Gert is also the lead-out man for our young sprinters as a replacement for Hondo who has retired. He is very motivated for that.

"Gert has a bitter feeling about his final season at Omega Pharma-Quick Step. He was not selected for the classics and the Tour de France and at the Belgian Championships, he was also unhappy. He told us: "I am 34 years old and am still too young to quit." But we did not take him because he did not have a team."