Only two of the riders selected for the road race are with his team, Boonen and Jan Bakelants. Lefevere had no problems with the team's other two captains, Philippe Gilbert and Greg Van Avermaet, both with BMC, nor with Lotto Belisol's Tim Wellens, who recently won the ENECO Tour.
The Omega Pharma-QuickStep team manager felt, however, that more domestiques on the squad should have come from his team. “I have nothing to see against the qualities of riders like Johan Vansummeren or Ben Hermans, but I find that my riders who were not selected are at least as strong,” Lefevere told sporza.be
"Based on the performance of Pieter Serry in the Vuelta, Gianni Meersman in the last month or Julien Vermote in the Tour of Britain, I think that certainly two of the three had to have been selected." Both Serry and Meersman have been named as reserves.
Bomans oriented himself too much on how riders performed in the Tour of Utah and the USS Pro Challenge in Colorado, Lefevere said – races in which his team did not participate.
"I am not overwhelmed by results in Utah or Colorado," he said. "If you look below the top five in results, you know nobody. The Vuelta was at a very high level his year, and the Tour of Britain as well. I must defend my team and I even feel a little insulted."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
