Michael Barry can't wait for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne in Belgium this weekend.

The Canadian produced an excellent ride on Sunday as he and Chris Froome both made it into the top 15 overall at the two-day Tour du Haut Var in Provence.

The second stage covered over 200km and featured a brute of an uphill finish but left Barry delighted with his fitness levels at this early stage of the season.

He told us: "The whole day was up and down and tough as we were on small sinuous roads which made it hard to move up so the peloton was in a long thin line for most of the day.

"I was happy with my legs at the end and was a little bit surprised with how well I felt on the final surge to the line. Had I known I was going to feel as good as I did I might have attacked the climb differently, with more confidence, but in the end I am happy with my fitness.

"We have just finished a hard block of training and racing so it is a good sign that I came out well - I think we all came out of it well, in fact."

In the mix

Froome led Team Sky home in eighth place on the final day, three seconds ahead of Barry, and there were plenty of other plus points, as Barry explained.

He said: "The race went well. From the start we were well represented in all of the attacks and finally when the breakaway was established Nicolas [Portal] was up there which was important. He did a good ride as he jumped away at a hard moment on a climb and their group stuck for a long time before it was eventually reeled in.

"After that [Sylvain] Calzati went on the attack on the hardest climb of the race. The course was relentlessly hilly and the pace never eased during the 200km of racing which shredded the peloton to a group of 30-50 by the end. We had four riders in the group which was good.

"On the last climb up to the finish I helped Froome get in position at the foot of the climb and he went for it. My legs were still quite good as well so I kept up the effort and was able to pass quite a few riders.

"In the end, we got quite a bit out of the two days of racing. We rode well as a team, were present when we needed to be, and have learned from the few errors we made," concluded Barry.

'Race like mad at the weekend'

The action now switches to Belgium, with Barry part of an eight-man Team Sky line-up for both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne which also features Edvald Boasson Hagen, fresh from his Tour of Oman heroics.

And the schedule between now and Saturday is a varied one, with Barry telling us: "I will take it easy for a few days and do a few rides with my wife. Then, I will do a motorpacing session on Wednesday, travel to Belgium Thursday, preview the course on Friday and race like mad on the weekend."