The final step before the transfer season was to negotiate new contracts with our riders. Almost all of them accepted our initial offer, 5 of them going for only a 50,000€ wage: Vandewalle, Giling, Rabou, Martens and Van Emden, while 4 of them didn't receive an offer.
The 4 riders that will leave Jack Wolfskin are: Mikhail Bourgoin, Willem Van Den Eynde, Arnoud Van Groen and Robbie Williams. Van Den Eynde and Van Groen had a really poor 2010 season scoring no points in the Continental Tour and it would have been even harder for them to score in Pro Tour. Bourgoin got a few points last season after finishing 19th in the Down Under Classic but except that he finished last in almost all the races he was in. Williams had some nice results last season but in the end we had to let him go as we decided that he isn't really Pro Tour 'material'.
Other 3 riders made was quite a nice surprise as they asked for a lower wage than last season. Winner of Tour du Faso, one stage in Utah, Capo and Faso, plus some other great results in the one day cobbled races, Niels Albert will receive 50,000€ less than last season which makes him sure that he will stay with us in 2011. Last year's highest payed rider, Matt Goss, scored only 2 stage wins, both in Tour of Qinghai Lake, will receive half of his last year's salary. Ardila Cano, who won a stage in Volta a Portugal didn't ask for an increase either and he will receive only 70,000€. The last two plus Hans Dekkers might be the names that will leave us during the transfer season if the right offer comes along. 2 of the following 3 names could also be added to that list: Reus, Cornu and Kirchen.
Speaking of those 3, who were probably our most important riders last year, only Kirchen went for a lower wage but he went down with only 18,000€. Cornu and Reus, who dominated the Continental time - trials last season are now the best payed riders in our team, with a wage of 370,000€ and respectively, 380,000€. From our young prospects, who have their place in the team secured for the 2011 season, Robin van der Hugenhaben signed for a 90,000€ wage, while Van Stayen got quite a big increase, receiving now 240,000€.
The new wages for the Jack Wolfskin riders are now available in the second post of this thread.
Will Kirchen and Reus continue with Jack Wolfskin in 2011?
With the first 2 days of transfers completed we are proud to announce that 2 new riders have joined the team, the Spanish stage racer, Ruben Plaza, and the Dutch Time - Trial Champion, Joost Posthuma.
Ruben Plaza, former rider of Virgin Media a.k.a Auber 93, is a very important addition to our team. He has the potential to grab to top 10 place in La Vuelta a Espana, if not better, plus he is an amazing time - trialist, being the former Spanish Champion, great for the Eindhoven TTT. Still so we can afford Plaza, we had to let Kai Reus go, who was one of the most important riders for us last year and we wish him the best with his new team, Auber 93.
The second new comer is Joost Posthuma, former rider of the last year's Pro Tour champions, La Gazzetta dello Sport. Joost had a great season last year and got an amazing win in the Dutch TT Championships, where he managed to beat Kai Reus, who came in third there, with only a few seconds. But as with Plaza, we had to let go a rider as well, this time that being Kristof Vandewalle, and a larger amount of money. Vandewalle was a very good domestique last year supporting Cornu and Reus in the time - trials with some top 10 ten results, and we wish him the best as well.
Two of our big guns last year, Kim Kirchen and Matt Goss, also leaved the team, both going to the new team, Bacardi - Colt. Kim was the second most important rider for us last year, after Cornu, since he achieved two of our goals, but also failed in other 2. Hopefully Kirchen and Goss will help Bacardi walking on our steps in the CT.
In other news the team is very interested in signing Robert Gesink, Martijn Keizer, Philippe Gilbert, Wout Poelz, Jacob Fiedler, Francis de Greef and Theo Eltink, but the fight for Fiedler and Gilbert seems to be lost. After Reus, Vandewalle, Kirchen and Goss, Alex Ardila Cano, Bobbie Traksel and Niels Albert are also most likely going to leave the team.
Posthuma could prove to be a crucial rider in our attempt to maintain the Pro Tour spot
At the start of the transfer window, Gesink was our main target as he is one of the best Dutch riders at the moment and he is able to get a top 3 in Criterium International or Liege - Bastogne - Liege, which are 2 of our season goals this year. Robert is also a very strong time - trialist and could prove to be a very important rider in the Eindhoven TTT.
On some other moves, Wout Poels, a very talented Dutch stage - racer has signed a contract with us, as well as Joseph Cooper. Paco Mancebo is most likely going to join us for the 2011 season, while Jason Donald, Laurens Ten Dam and Benoit Vaugrenard are also very close to sign with us.
The outgoing list is completed now with 3 more names: Alex Ardila Cano, Bobbie Traksel and Niels Albert and we wish them the best at their new teams. Pieter Weening might also leave the team and in that case he will be replace by Wim Van Huffel, a very strong Belgian climber.
After our main target this season, Robert Gesink, joined the team, we managed to sign 5 more riders: Paco Mancebo, Wim Van Huffel, Laurens Ten Dam, Jason Donald and Benoit Vaugrenard.
Mancebo is a former Vuelta a Espana winner, but his winning days are over now as hasn't many years left to ride at a high level. Still he will a very useful helper for Ruben Plaza in the mountains in the Spanish races, as well as for Gesink in the Tour de France.
As was expect, Wim Van Huffel also joined the team, being our 3rd GT leader after Plaza and Gesink. His climbing skills are really nice, but his main weakness are the time - trials. With Plaza settle for the Vuelta a Espana and Gesink most likely going to ride in Le Tour, Van Huffel will be our leader in the first GT of the year. As previous mentioned Van Huffel joining the team, means that Weening will leave us but we wish him the best at Pearl Adidas.
The last 3 signs are Ten Dam, who is a very good Dutch all - rounder, with some nice cobbles and climbing skills, Donald and Vaugrenard. Even though the last 2 aren't from our nationality range they might prove to be some of our key riders in the Eindhoven TTT as they are both very good time - trialists.
Ten Dam also joined the team last year, but it didn't last for too long and he spent the 2010 season with Rabobank
In the last week our team was involved in a few more transfers, the most notable one being the departure of Roy Sentjens. Sentjens had some nice results last year riding as a domestique for Niels Albert, but as the winner of Tour du Faso, the Pro Tour would have been a real challenge, and he went back to the Continental Tour where he will ride for Intesa.
With Sentjens leaving the team, some space for new rider was made. And we had 3 riders joining the team: Michel Kreder, Andrei Nechita and Klaas Sys. Nechita is settled to become the best Romanian rider in years and a very nice time - trialist, but he is still young and he will spend the 2011 in the Continental Tour to gain some experience, riding for Intesa, together with 2 former Jack Wolfskin riders, Sentjens and Bobbie Traksel.
Kreder joined us from Festina and in maximum 2 or 3 years he could become the best Dutch sprinters, already being in the top 5 at least. The last addition to the 2011 roster was Klaas Sys, who rode last year for Wikipedia, our rivals for the TTTs in the upcoming season. Sys is a northen classics specialist and he will be one of our leaders in those type of races along side Marcel Sieberg.
A sort piece of information about our roster for the new season and our transfers can be now found in the second post of this thread.
Even though he isn't our best sprinter, Kreder will have some nice chances to get some good results in the flat stages in 2011
Eight Jack Wolfskin riders spotted in Doha, during a training camp
With the transfer window being a few hours away from closing down, we went to the next step in our agenda, the training camps for the new season. 8 of our rider were spotted in Doha on the route where the first Pro Tour even is going to be held.
The 8 riders were: Robert Gesink, Dominique Cornu, Ruben Plaza, Joost Posthuma, Michael Van Stayen, Wim Van Huffel, Koen de Kort and Jason Donald, but only a few of them will be present in Tour of Qatar when the season will kick off.
The 2 jerseys for the national champions that our riders are going to wear in the time - trials next year were also seen. We are of course speaking about the Belgian and the Dutch jersey, which will be wear by Cornu and respectively, Posthuma.
- Dominique Cornu's Belgian National Time - trial Champion shirt:
- Joost Posthuma's Dutch National Time - trial Champion shirt:
Also here are some photos taken by a local photographer with our riders, during the training, while they were trying out the brand new time - trial equipment as well...
The time - trials are going to be our main source of points for the next season, especially the team time - trials, so it was obvious that all our important riders will try to increase their skills in that specialty
Posthuma, Cornu and Gesink are our main attraction for the new season. The first two are national champions of Belgium and the Netherlands, while Gesink is one of the best if not the best Dutch rider at the moment
Cornu dominated the time - trials in the Continental Tour last year, losing just one, when he came only second. In Pro Tour he will face some stronger opponents but we hope he can bring us some good results, Dominique being one of the only leaders from the CT that stick with us for PT as well
Gesink didn't ride any Grand Tour last year for Rabobank, focusing on the one week races, but this year he will most likely return to the GTs. We expect him to bring us the most points in 2011, where he will focus on the hilly classics and the French stage races
Posthuma had a nice season last year, while riding for the Pro Tour champions, La Gazzetta dello Sport, which ended perfectly with a win in the Dutch time - trial championships. This year he will face a new challenge with a new team to the Pro Tour, but he will have the chance to be the team leader for some small one week races and one of the co - leaders for the northen classics
Next to Cornu, Gesink and Posthuma we can add two more strong time - trialists: Ruben Plaza and Jason Donald. Those five will be our main riders for the Eindhoven TTT, where the time that matters is the time of the 5th rider that crosses the line
Gesink is our top gun for the next season, but we expect some strong results from Plaza and Van Huffel as well. The Spaniard will most likely ride in the his home Grand Tour, where a top 10 is a sponsors goal, while Van Huffel will probably lead the team in the first Grand Tour of the year, the Giro d'Italia
De Kort and Donald will probably ride together in a lot of races in 2011, especially in those where a team time - trial is scheduled, as well as our other pure time - trial specialists. That means that they both have a place secured in the Giro, the only Grand Tour with a TTT this year
Van Stayen was our most prolific sprinter last season, with 3 stage wins. Now with Goss gone, he is definitely our big gun for the sprints, where he will count on a very good lead - out from Marcel Sieberg
Jack Wolfskin to send a full Dutch squad to Amstel Gold Race
At this point we know pretty much who's going to ride where for Jack Wolfskin in the new season and the main news come from the most important Dutch race in the UCI Calendar. With the other Dutch Pro Tour race, Eindhoven TTT, being our main goal this season, we felt like we should do something special about Amstel Gold Race as well, where only Dutch riders will ride for Jack Wolfskin.
The Dutch superstar, Robert Gesink will lead the team and he is hoping for a top 5 or a podium place at the very least. Laurens Ten Dam and Robin van der Hugenhaben will be his main helpers, both being very good punchers, some good support also coming from Thomas Rabou and Koen de Kort. The Dutch youngster, Wout Poels will make his debut in the most prestigious Dutch race, while Jos Van Emden and Bas Giling will complete the team.
In other news, Gesink will also aim for two of our season goals, in Criterium International and Liege - Bastogne - Liege. Robert will ride in 9 races in 2011, including the Tour de France where he will be our main gun for a high place.
Our other goals will be covered by Ruben Plaza and Win Van Huffel in Vuelta a Espana, while the team for Eindhoven TTT was also announced. Dominique Cornu, Joost Posthuma, Robert Gesink, Ruben Plaza and Jason Donald will be the most important 5 names, with the support of Koen de Kort, Benoit Vaugrenard and Jos Van Emden.
Robert Gesink will be our key rider in 2011 and hopefully he won't let us down
The first race of the season, the Tour of Qatar, just ended but the team's performance was way under our expectations at the start of the race. The race started quite well with a 5th place in the opening TTT even though we had hoped for at least an podium.
In the second stage Van Stayen and Dekkers were nowhere in the sprint, Posthuma being the only Jack Wolfskin rider that was seen during the stage, after attacking in the last half of the route. In the third stage the things started to look better for us, Dekkers and Van Stayen being in a perfect position for the sprint but in the end neither of them was able to finish in the top 20 of the stage.
In the fourth stage, Van Stayen was very close to grab the stage win but after leading in the last kilometer of the stage he finished only 7th. In the fifth and the sixth stage, which also was the last one, Van Stayen missed the right move when the splits were made in the pack and lost some places in the GC, even though in the last stage he was very close to catch the leading group but Cornu and Donald weren't strong enough in the end to bring him there.
In the end Van Stayen was our best rider, finishing 25th, with Sieberg on 32nd and Vaugrenard on 33rd. With the performances from Qatar we are 13th in the teams rankings, 4 places above the relegation zone but only 16 points in front of the 17th spot.
Jack Wolfskin and Festina working together to bring their leaders in the leading group during the last stage, but it all came to nothing
Slightly better performance in Tirreno - Adriatico
The 2010 edition of the race of the two seas just ended and Jack Wolfskin had an another bunch of rather mediocre results.
The race started quite well for us though, Joost Posthuma keeping himself out of the first stage's crashes and being very close to get away from the pack with Rogers and Danielson in the second stage.
But all our hopes for a high GC place in the race ended when Posthuma saw himself down in the fourth stage and losing more than 3 minutes to the pack. Then the Montelupone stage followed and Laurens Ten Dam, who became our team leader after Posthuma's crash had a quite good performance losing just 1 minute to the stage winner, Yuri Trofimov.
In the ITT from the fifth stage, Posthuma was our main rider and he managed to grab a 7th place, while Ten Dam wasn't able to finish in the first 50 spots and lost more than 3 minutes. On the next stage, which was also the queen stage of the race, Ten Dam was again the rider to watch from Jack Wolfskin, but this time he wasn't able to get into the top 20 and lost more than 2 minutes to the stage winner, which was Trofimov, who also won the Montelupone stage.
The last stage didn't bringing anything special for Jack Wolfskin and while Trofimov defended the leader's jersey and won the race, Ten Dam finished safety in the pack and took the 17th spot overall, while Posthuma took the 28th place.
The crash from the fourth stage ruined Posthuma's race
Not the best start for Robert Gesink in Paris - Nice
Gesink's first preparation race for the Tour de France was the first French race of the year, Paris - Nice. The race started quite well for us and Jack Wolfskin, with Robert finishing second in the prologue, while Koen De Kort also came with a strong performance.
After a great start our hopes were really high for the rest of the race but in the first stage Gesink had some problems as he punctured and he burned some energy to get back in the pack and not lose any time.
The second and the third stage finished in a mass sprint and even though Sieberg showed some good leading - out skills, Van Stayen was never in the right position for the sprint and all he got was an 8th place in the third stage.
With the fourth stage the big things started to happen and with Gesink finishing in the front group and winning some time over his main opponent, Frank Schleck, it looked like things were going to his direction. But in the 5th stage, when the escapes managed to beat the pack, Robert crashed in the last kilometers of the stage and with a lose of 2 minutes it was clear that his race for the GC was over.
In the next stages Gesink was just a shadow of the rider he was supposed to be and we just saw trying something on Col d'Eze, in the last stage and finish in the chasing group with the winner of the GC, Emanuele Sella. In the end Gesink got the 12th spot overall, while our other Dutch leader, Robin van der Hugehaben took the 23rd place, even though before the last stage he was inside the top 20.
Gesink's problems started right after the prologue
