After 2 successful seasons in the World of Cycling, Jack Wolfskin decided to maintain their sponsorship for at least another year. Rabobank and KPN will also join them for another season. The design of the jersey is likely to stay very much the same, as well as the team specialization - the time-trials.
2012 Team Roster: Robert Gesink Joost Posthuma Dennis Van Winden Laurens Ten Dam Koen de Kort Michel Kreder Jos Van Emden Wout Poels Bas Giling Dominique Cornu Kristoff Vandewalle Sebastien Rosseler Klaas Sys Welle Jallays Paul Martens Marcel Sieberg Ruben Plaza Xavier Florencio Haimar Zubeldia Benoit Vaugrenard Sylvain Chavanel Mauricio Ardila Jason Donald Andrei NechitaEdited by alexkr00 on 01-07-2011 17:01
Goals Win, Amstel Gold Race Win, Copenhagen-Malmo TTT Top 3, Tour of Oman Top 5, Team Rankings Top 10, Vuelta a Espana
Other Important Races Fleche Wallone Liege - Bastogne - Liege Tour of Northern Europe Tour de Romandie Vuelta a la Region de Murcia
Results
Copenhagen-Malmo TTT
Robert Gesink, Vuelta al Pais Vasco
Robert Gesink, Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Stage 4
Robert Gesink, Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Stage 6
Robert Gesink, Paris-Nice - Stage 5
Robert Gesink, Tour of Oman - Stage 6
Ruben Plaza, Volta a Catalunya - Stage 4
Ruben Plaza, Dauphine Libere - Stage 7
Ruben Plaza, Dauphine Libere - King of the Mountains Sylvain Chavanel, Fleche Wallone Sylvain Chavanel, Tour de France - Stage 19 Dominique Cornu, Giro d'Italia - Stage 21 Joost Posthuma, Vuelta a Espana - Stage 19
Michel Kreder, Vuelta a Colombia - Stage 2 Team Time - Trial, Giro d'Italia - Stage 1 Team Time - Trial, Vuelta a Espana - Stage 9
Team Time - Trial, Tour of Oman - Stage 3 Team Rankings, Vuelta a Murcia TTT World Championships (Robert Gesink, Joost Posthuma, Dennis Van Winden, Koen De Kort)
Robert Gesink, Paris-Nice Robert Gesink, Tour de Romandie - Stage 4
Ruben Plaza, Volta a Catalunya - Stage 1
Ruben Plaza, Volta a Catalunya (Points) Dominique Cornu, Vuelta a Espana - Stage 13
Joost Posthuma, Tour of Oman - Stage 6 Sylvain Chavanel, Vuelta a Murcia - Stage 2 Mauricio Ardila, Tour de France - Stage 17
Xavier Florencio, Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 6 Sebastien Rosseler, Giro d'Italia - Stage 2 Wout Poels, Tour de Romandie - Stage 6
Marcel Sieberg, FBD Eire Tour - Stage 8 TTT World Championships (Ruben Plaza)
Robert Gesink, Classique de Grand Duche
Robert Gesink, Vuelta al Pais Vasco - Stage 1
Robert Gesink, Vuelta al Pais Vasco (Points) Ruben Plaza, Vuelta a Murcia (Points) Dominique Cornu, Vuelta a Espana - Stage 1
Joost Posthuma, Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 5
Joost Posthuma, Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 7
Marcel Sieberg, Vuelta a Colombia - Stage 2
Jason Donald, Tour de Suisse - Stage 5 TTT World Championships (Dominique Cornu, Kristoff Vandewalle, Sebastien Rosseler)
Others:
4th, Robert Gesink, Vuelta a Murcia
4th, Ruben Plaza, Volta a Catalunya
5th, Ruben Plaza, Tour of California
5th, Xavier Florencio, Tour of Northern Europe
5th, Robert Gesink, GP Mendrisio
6th, Ruben Plaza, Vuelta a Murcia
6th, Ruben Plaza, Tour of Oman
6th, Dominique Cornu, Olympics Time - Trial
6th, Dominique Cornu, Chrono des Herbiers
7th, Robert Gesink, GP Liechtenstein
7th, Robert Gesink, Seine - Marne - Seine
7th, Joost Posthuma, Olympics Time - Trial
8th, Mauricio Ardila, Vuelta a Colombia
9th, Robert Gesink, Fleche Wallone
9th, Sylavin Chavanel, Paris-Nice
9th, Ruben Plaza, Olympics Time - Trial
11th, Robert Gesink, Amstel Gold Race
11th, Robert Gesink, Liege - Bastogne - Liege
11th, Mauricio Ardila, Tour de Suisse
11th, Dominique Cornu, World ITT Championships
12th, Ruben Plaza, Vuelta a Espana
12th, Mauricio Ardila, Tour de France
12th, Mauricio Ardila, Giro d'Italia
12th, Joost Posthuma, Tour of Northern Europe
13th, Joost Posthuma, World ITT Championships
14th, Ruben Plaza, Dauphine Libere
14th, Marcel Sieberg, GP de Fourmies
14th, Laurens Ten Dam, FBD Eire Tour
15th, Sylvain Chavanel, Amstel Gold Race
15th, Sylvain Chavanel, Vuelta a Murcia
15th, Ruben Plaza, World ITT Championships
16th, Sylvain Chavanel, Classique de Grand Duche
16th, Marcel Sieberg, World Championships
17th, Marcel Sieberg, Milano-SanRemo
17th, Marcel Sieberg, Gent - Wevelgem
17th, Sylvain Chavanel, Seine - Marne - Seine
18th, Robert Gesink, Tour de Romandie
18th, Sebastien Rosseler, Gent - Wevelgem
18th, Bas Giling, GP de Fourmies
18th, Dennis Van Winden,
19th, Jason Donald, Chrono des Herbiers
19th, Ruben Plaza, GP Liechtenstein
19th, Laurens Ten Dam, East Midlands Cicle Classic
21st, Klaas Sys, Paris - Roubaix
21st, Welle Jallays, Rund um Koln
22nd, Laurens Ten Dam, Paris - Roubaix
23rd, Laurens Ten Dam, Tour of Northern Europe
23rd, Joost Posthuma, Tour of Qatar
24th, Marcel Sieberg, East Midlands Cicle Classic
24th, Sylvain Chavanel, Vuelta a Colombia
25th, Mauricio Ardila, GP Liechtenstein
26th, Marcel Sieberg, Paris - Roubaix
26th, Sylvain Chavanel, Vuelta al Pais Vasco
27th, Robert Gesink, Tour of Oman
27th, Sylvain Chavanel, Milano-SanRemo
29th, Xavier Florencio, East Midlands Cicle Classic
30th, Sebastien Rosseler, Ronde Van Vlaanderen
30th, Xavier Florencio, Vuelta al Pais Vasco
30th, Sylvain Chavanel, Rund um Koln
39th, Sylvain Chavanel, Tour de FranceEdited by alexkr00 on 07-10-2012 12:10
Former riders: Kai Reus (2010) Pieter Weening (2010) Robin van der Hugenhaben (2010, 2011) Hans Dekkers (2010, 2011) Bobbie Traksel (2010) Thomas Rabou (2010, 2011) Arnoud van Groen (2010) Michael Van Stayen (2010, 2011) Niels Albert (2010) Wim Van Huffel (2011) Roy Sentjens (2010) Willem van den Eynde (2010) Kim Kirchen (2010) Francisco Mancebo (2011) Mikhail Bourgoin (2010) Matthew Goss (2010) Robbie Williams (2010) Alex Ardila Cano (2010) Joseph Cooper (2011)
Edited by alexkr00 on 01-07-2011 16:57
With the new transfer window right around the corner every team starts asking how are they going to look next year and Jack Wolfskin make no exception.
After a rather poor season, Wim Van Huffel, Jason Donald and Hans Dekkers don't seem to have lots of chances to spend the next season with the team, same as the Belgian youngster, Michael Van Stayen, who got 2 stage wins at the Tour de France, but showed some weaknesses during the rest of the season.
With four riders ready to leave the team, there's definitely space for new riders to come in. We'll most likely be looking to sign a third stage racer, to join the Gesink-Plaza combo. Under certain circumstances, we would love to have a rider such as Martijn Keizer riding under our colors, because we believe that the Dutch rider can be a potential threat for the general classification in any Grand Tour.
Edited by alexkr00 on 20-03-2011 21:27
The design of the new jersey is the same as last year, but orange is replacing yellow and also becomes the prominent color on the jersey.
As a Dutch team, we felt that the main color in the Netherlands should be on our jersey to identify more with the country as our secondary sponsors are based there, but Jack Wolfskin is a German company. Hopefully the jersey will be quite easy to spot in the pack next year even though we hope the presence of our riders at the front of the pack will be what will make the jersey easy to spot.
Credits for making the original design of the jersey go to Will007, the best jersey designer on the site.
Two years ago we got three out of five, last year four out of five and hopefully this year we won't miss a single goal. Of course that will be pretty hard since, considering that this is our second year in the Pro Tour, we went for some tougher goals.
The first one is to win Amstel Gold Race. With the Eindhoven TTT out of the picture, AGR was the only big Dutch race left in the calendar and there was no way we were not going to have it as one of our goals for the next season. Gesink current level isn't probably good enough to win the race though, but anything can happen if Robert has a good day.
Last year, we opted for a 'win goal' in the Eindhoven TTT. Many of the other managers were quite skeptical that we could achieve it, but we managed to prove them wrong. This year the race has been relocated to Denmark and Sweden and renamed to Copenhagen-Malmo TTT. If everything goes as planned, we could even increase our strength as the best TTT team in the pack, which will hopefully lead to another win in the teams test.
A new race has been introduced to the World of Cycling this season, the Tour of Oman. With a mixture of one mountain stage, one team time - trial and one individual time - trial, the race seems suited for Robert Gesink and if everything goes well Bob should be able to finish on the podium at the end of the race.
Last year, Ruben Plaza had an amazing ride in Vuelta a Espana and missed the podium by only a few seconds, finishing fourth. This year he will most likely be there again aiming for at least a place in the top 10.
In our first Pro Tour season we managed to finish 9th in the team rankings. With a bit of luck we could beat that performance and we hope that this year we will be able to break into the top 5.
In the second of this thread you can also find information regarding other races that the team will be targeting this season.
Edited by alexkr00 on 01-04-2011 17:47
Renewals finished - Gesink and Plaza continue with Jack Wolfskin for another year
The final step before going into the transfer season was offering our rider new contracts for the upcoming season. From the original list of 23, 21 riders will enter the transfer season as Jack Wolfskin riders.
The two riders that didn't receive a renewal were Paco Mancebo and Thomas Rabou. Mancebo's winning days are definitely over now and even though he rode a nice Vuelta last year, the team felt that the Spaniard won't be able to help our leaders in the mountains too much.
Thomas Rabou had 2 nice seasons with the team, being one of the first riders that actually signed a contract with JW, but after a rather poor first season in the Pro Tour it was clear for both he and the team that he isn't PT material.
Most of the riders didn't have high wage demands and accepted our first or second offer. Six riders though weren't willing to go much under their original demands and only accepted our third and final offer. Our 2 big guns last season, Plaza and Gesink, were two of those six riders, with De Kort, Sieberg, van der Hugenhaben and Van Stayen completing the list.
Some numbers will be made public after all the other teams will have finished their renewals.
The latest moves on the transfer market have been very interesting and Jack Wolfskin would like to express their interest in two of the brand new free agents: Jose Angel Gomez Marchante and Gert Steegmans.
After Van Huffel's poor performances from last year it was clear that we will be looking for a third Grand Tour rider and with his climbing skills, Gomez Marchante seems to be exactly what we are looking for. Also if we manage to get a good deal with the Spaniard, as we don't have too much money to throw away, we will turn our attention to Gert Steegmans, who could become our main sprinter and leader for the cobbled classics.
As promised, now that more than 20 teams have completed their renewals, we will announce the new salaries of our riders as well as their current status in the team, prior the transfer season. The 21 riders that received a new contract have been divided into four groups as it follows:
• The first category includes the riders that are sure of a spot in our team for the 2012 season. Our three big stars - Gesink, Plaza, Cornu - have been confirmed as unavailable for a transfer.
Robert Gesink - €793,000 Ruben Plaza - €462,750 Dominique Cornu - €215,000 Joost Posthuma - €160,000 Marcel Sieberg - €116,500 Michel Kreder - €100,000 Koen de Kort - €87,000 Laurens Ten Dam - €70,000 Benoit Vaugrenard - €70,000 Paul Martens - €55,000 Wout Poels - €50,000 Jos Van Emden - €50,000 Klaas Sys - €50,000 Bas Giling - €50,000
• In the second group we have only two riders. They are both very likely to ride for the team in the upcoming season, but a very good offer could see one or both chasing teams.
Robin van der Hugenhaben - €201,000 Jason Donald - €90,000
• The third category is the most interesting for the other teams as here we have the riders that received a renewal from Jack Wolfskin but will be looking for a new team in the transfer window.
Michael Van Stayen - €270,500 Wim Van Huffel - €130,000 Hans Dekkers - €60,000 Joseph Cooper - €50,000
• In the fourth and last category we have only one rider - the double Romanian Champion, Andrei Nechita. After a first development year with Intesa, Andrei will again return to the CT as loan to gain some experience.
Andrei Nechita - €50,000
Edited by alexkr00 on 12-06-2011 12:00
Transfers have started - first move on the market already made
Yesterday the transfers season went live and we immediately started making our moves on the market. Some riders are already very close to join the team for the new season, while others are ready to leave to make space for newcomers.
But one transfer was already been sealed! And it's Josh Cooper, who is leaving us for Jayco - RedBull. Cooper had quite a decent season with us last year and we wish good luck with the new team.
Cooper really seems to enjoy riding on home ground and he will have plenty of chances to do so in the upcoming season
As mentioned at the end of last season, this year we won't be focusing too much on the sprints, which meant that most of our sprinters will be leaving the team. The first one to do so was Joseph Cooper and now he is followed by Hans Dekkers.
The Dutch rider has been with the team since its first season and Hans is actually the rider that brought Jack Wolfskin our first official win, in the first stage of Tour de Langkawi 2010. But in 2011 he didn't make the adjustment to the Pro Tour level, where he had to compete against much stronger opponents, so in 2012 he will go back to the CT, with the new formed team Koppert, which shares a secondary sponsor with Jack Wolfskin.
Last year we won 2 TTTs from 3 that we really wanted to win. And now, with our main rivals in terms of TTT out of the picture we believe we stand a real chance at taking all the TTT that will be raced this season.
The reason we haven't signed any time - trial specialists yet is exactly because we want to do the best we can in TTT and we have to be very careful and study all the possibilities of who we are bringing into the team.
Last year, the Romanian Champion, Andrei Nechita rode for Intesa even though he was under contract with Jack Wolfskin. This year he will again return to a continental team as part of his development.
Focused Cycling has agreed to take him into their roster for the next season in which should be his last development year in the Continental Tour, before becoming a pro.
In 2010, Michael Van Stayen was one of the young guns that have joined the new Dutch cycling project - Jack Wolfskin. He had quite a nice year with a few victories, including a stage win in the Tour de l'Avenir.
With Goss leaving the team next season, he became our main sprinter for the 2011 season. But that seemed to be a hat too big for the still young Van Stayen, who had some rather disappointing results, except the 2 stage wins in the Tour de France. Still those 2 victories saved his season and got him quite a nice contract for 2012 with Bacardi, where he might ride again with his former Aussie team - mate.
Following the departures of Van Stayen, Dekkers and Cooper, a hole was made into our roster and now it's time to fill it. Our first new signing for the upcoming season is the Belgian time - trial specialist, Sebastien Rosseler, who rode last year for Warner Brothers.
Rosseler can do very well in time - trials which makes him a perfect fit into our team. He can also have decent rides on cobbles and that makes him a perfect domestique for Posthuma for the Tour of Northern Europe as well as some of the cobbled classics.
Just a few moments after Rosseler's transfer was confirmed, another rider has become officially a Jack Wolfskin rider. The new team is the French superstar Sylvain Chavanel.
Even though Chavanel spent last year in the CT and his career seems to had taken a step back, in 2012 he will be back at the top level with Jack Wolfskin. Chavanel is brilliant domestique in almost any terrain and he might get his own chances in some hilly stages.
Jack Wolfskin are really looking forward to the Tour de France now that we have two French riders in our team - Benoit Vaugrenard, who won a stage in last year's Tour, and the new addition, Sylvain Chavanel.
Chavanel is ready to race in the World's biggest races once again
After 2 years with the Jack Wolfskin, the Dutch climbing talent, Robin van der Hugenhaben felt that he needed to make a change in his career and try to find a team where he could be a team leader.
Volkswagen-Siemens offered him a contract for next year and even though he's going to ride in the CT, van der Hugenhaben was more than happy to get the chance to show what he is capable of.
In return, Xavier Florencio will be leaving Volkswagen-Siemens to join Jack Wolfskin. He could be a Spanish replacement for Paco Mancebo, who left during the renewals. Xavier is a very good all-rounder and he is definitely going to be a valuable helper for our leaders when he will be needed.
After a nice first season with Jack Wolfskin, the Belgian time - trial specialist, Kristof Vandewalle left the team to join La Gazzetta dello Sport, who were the Pro Tour Champions at the time.
But last season wasn't as good as the previous one for La Gazzetta and the end of the season saw the team disbanding, leaving all of its rider without a contract for 2012. That meant that Vandewalle was looking for a new contract and after a short round of negotiations he decided to rejoin Jack Wolfskin, where he will a vital rider in the TTT train.
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