Before the high-altitude training camp at the Val di Fassa ski resort in Italy's Dolomites, Deceuninck-QuickStep riders will undergo medical tests at the Baccarat Academy in Leuven, Belgium, to All Deceuninck-QuickStep riders will be in Italy from July 6 to July 23 to kick off the postponed season at the Vuelta a Burgos on July 28.

The athletes underwent a series of physical tests, including a dexa scan, which measures body composition such as muscle mass and fat percentage, and an exercise stress test.

"We wanted to check how deep the players could dig and to guess if they were getting enough rest," said team coach Kane Pelgrim, who oversaw the testing.

"We also wanted to test how their physical condition compared to January and February, when we did the same test.

"According to the tests, they are expected to perform better now. Everyone who took part in the test is well rested and performing better than their January levels," he said.

Nevertheless, Pelgrim acknowledged that the fitness levels of the athletes differed due to the mandatory period without competition.

"It's not like a normal season opener like in Australia or Argentina [in January], where you can make adjustments for March and April. So we have to make sure that the riders don't enter this period at a disadvantage."

"For most riders it's not a problem, but for riders who were based in countries like France, Spain, and Italy during the coronavirus outbreak, it will probably be very difficult.

"They were forced to fall back and maintain their fitness on rollers. They have to catch up, but it will get better in time."

Pelgrim said that the team's athletes have increased their training load over the last month, whereas in April and May the focus was on maintaining fitness.

"We monitored the team to make sure they could keep up well and at the same time not waste too much energy.

"We want to prevent them from reaching peak fitness too soon. In Val di Fassa, the team will make further fine-tuning for August. The race is coming up fast. Everyone must reach a good level of fitness soon. There are a few exceptions, but for most of them the first race will already mean a lot."

Pelgrim explained that athletes will be grouped by discipline, such as climbers, sprinters, and lead-out riders, allowing for a more individualized training program at altitude.

"Occasionally, we'll have specialists train on time trial bikes," he said. At that altitude, it's important to pay close attention to the training load."

"Custer (Belgium) was a good stimulus, with three tough recalls of the classics," Pelgrim said of the team's first training camp last month. But at Val di Fassa, we cannot let them compete on the uphills. We carefully monitor the training load and offer sessions consisting of bike and exercise."