Jurgen Van den Broeck to skip 2015 Tour de France

Lotto-Belisol rider Jurgen Van den Broeck has confirmed that he will not ride at next year's Tour de France.

The Belgian has taken part in the past six Tours and has finished in the top five in the GC on two occasions.

"The Tour is the most beautiful race, but I don't say no to a new project," Cycling Weekly quotes Van den Broek as saying.

"I have a love-hate relationship with the Tour. I got into top five two times, but there are the several crashes I had as well. I was criticized by the media and others. I can put that in perspective, but it's no fun.

"The Giro can be an option in 2015. That race is special to me because my career as a GC rider started there. I dream of a nice season. But I have new dreams for other races as well now. I've proven that I'm worth top 10 in WorldTour stage races."

Van den Broeck finished 13th in the 2014 Tour.