PARIS, Aug 25, 2009 (AFP) – Australia’s Allan Davis will have the chance to make amends for missing the Tour de France in July after he was named in Quick Step’s squad for the upcoming Tour of Spain.

Davis, a sprinter, was Quick Step’s ‘tenth man’ for the Tour in July but missed out on a place after teammate Tom Boonen was given 11th hour clearance to race despite having tested positive for cocaine, for the second time in his career, two months previously.

The three-week ‘Vuelta’, or Tour of Spain, begins Saturday with a short time trial in Assen, Netherlands and ends on September 20 in Madrid. As the race heads through some familiar terrain, Quick Step will be looking to match their haul of five stage wins on the race last year.

“Our main objective is to win some stages, even if it won’t be easy to repeat last year’s result of five stage wins,” said the team’s manager for the Vuelta, Wilfried Peeters.

“This year, starting in Holland and passing through the roads of Belgium in front of our fans will give us even more motivation to do well.”

As well as Davis, one-day race specialist Boonen will be aiming for victory on the stages with a flatter finish.

Joining the pair will be Belgians Wouter Weylandt, a stage winner at the Vuelta last year, and Stijn Devolder, the winner of the past two Tour of Flanders one-day classic.

Another two Belgians, Kevin De Weert and Maarten Wynants, join Italians Matteo Tosatto and Marco Velo while Spaniard Carlos Barredo carries the team’s hopes of victory on the hillier stages having won the Clasica San Sebastian earlier this month.

Quick Step team
Allan Davis (AUS), Tom Boonen, Wouter Weylandt, Stijn Devolder, Kevin De Weert, Maarten Wynants (all BEL), Matteo Tosatto and Marco Velo (ITA), Carlos Barredo (ESP)

Allan Davis and Tom Boonen of Quick Step

Photo by: CorVos Pro