After a very successful year in the Continental Tour, with almost 30 wins achieved, which lead us to the promotion in the Pro Tour, Jack Wolfskin decided to sponsor our team for at least another year. The team will still be Benelux based, but we might also look for some German riders in the transfer window, especially some time - trial specialists.
ING withdrew their sponsorship at the end of the 2010 season, but 2 new Dutch sponsor came in: KPN and Rabobank. KPN are a telecommunications company, which is quite new to the world of cycling, while Rabobank are one of the most known cycling sponsors. After a 3 year break they returned last year to the professional cycling, but it didn't work too well for them in the end and it looks like that team structure will lose their pro license, so they are looking now for another challenge, as a secondary sponsor.
Finally here is our jersey for the 2011 season, which was designed by one of the best shirtmakers, Will007:
In Ruben Plaza - from Auber 93 Joost Posthuma - from La Gazzetta dello Sport Wout Poels - from the Free Agency Robert Gesink - from the free Agency Joseph Cooper - from Wiggle Wim Van Huffel - from Pearl Adidas Paco Mancebo - from Cafe de Colombia Laurens Ten Dam - from the Free Agency Benoit Vaugrenard - from the Free Agency Jason Donald - from the Free Agency Klaas Sys - from Wikipedia Andrei Nechita - from the Free Agency Michel Kreder - from Festina Out Kai Reus - to Auber 93 Kim Kirchen - to Bacardi - Colt Matthew Goss - to Bacardi Colt Kristof Vandewalle - to La Gazzeta dello Sport Niels Albert - to Team Ikea - Bianchi Pieter Weening - to Pearl Adidas Bobbie Traksel - to Intesa Roy Sentjens - to Intesa Alex Ardila Cano - to Cafe de Colombia Arnoud Van Groen - to the free agency Willem Van Den Eynde - to the free agency Robbie Williams - to the Free Agency Mikhail Bourgoin - to the Free Agency Loans Andrei Nechita - to Intesa
2010: 2nd in the CT Team Rankings, Dominique Cornu - 2nd in the CT Individual Rankings Goals
1. Win, Profronde Van Drenthe
2. Top 3, Tour Down Under
3. Top 5, Tour de Luxembourg
4. Top 5, Team Rankings
5. Top 5, Giro del Lazio
Victories
Kim Kirchen, GP Plouay
Kim Kirchen, Profronde Van Drenthe
Kim Kirchen, Tour Mediterraneen
Kim Kirchen, Tour Mediterraneen - Stage 3
Kim Kirchen, Luxembourgian ITT Championships
Dominique Cornu, Isle of Man TT
Dominique Cornu, Tour of Missouri
Dominique Cornu, Tour of Missouri - Stage 3
Dominique Cornu, Post Danmark Rundt
Dominique Cornu, Post Danmark Rundt - Stage 3
Dominique Cornu, Tour of Utah - Stage 5
Dominique Cornu, Bikeline 2-Day - Stage 1
Dominique Cornu, Ster Elektrotoer - Stage 1
Dominique Cornu, Volta a Portugal - Stage 1
Dominique Cornu, Volta a Portugal - Stage 11
Dominique Cornu, Bayern Rundfahrt - Stage 3
Dominique Cornu, Belgian ITT Championships
Dominique Cornu & Kai Reus, Duo Normand
Kai Reus, Giro del Capo - Stage 5
Niels Albert, Tour du Faso
Niels Albert, Tour du Faso - Stage 7
Niels Albert, Tour of Utah - Stage 1
Niels Albert, Giro del Capo - Stage 4
Michael Van Stayen, Tour of Utah - Stage 3
Michael Van Stayen, Tour de l'Avenir - Stage 7
Michael Van Stayen, Post Danmark Rundt - Stage 1
Marcel Sieberg, GP Herning
Matthew Goss, Tour of Qinghai Lake - Stage 6
Matthew Goss, Tour of Qinghai Lake - Stage 9
Hans Dekkers, Tour de Langkawi - Stage 1
Alex Ardila Cano, Volta a Portugal - Stage 6
Goals
1.Win, Eindhoven TTT
2.Top 3, Liege - Bastogne - Liege
3.Top 3, Criterium International
4.Top 10, Vuelta a Espana
5.Top 10, Team Standings
Podiums
Eindhoven TTT
Robert Gesink, Tour de Romanide - Stage 5
Robert Gesink, Tour de Romandie - Overall Rankings
Robert Gesink, Tour de Romandie - Young Rankings
Ruben Plaza, Vuelta a Espana - Stage 20
Ruben Plaza, Vuelta a Asturias - Stage 4
Dominique Cornu, Vuelta a Espana - Stage 7
Dominique Cornu, Belgian ITT Championships
Michael Van Stayen, Tour de France - Stage 3
Michael Van Stayen, Tour de France - Stage 6
Benoit Vaugrenard, Tour de France - Stage 12
Paul Martens, German Championships
Joost Posthuma, Dutch ITT Championships
Team Time Trial, Tour de Romandie - Stage 4
Team Rankings, Vuelta a Espana
Team Rankings, Criterium International
Team Rankings, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
Robert Gesink, Fleche Wallone
Robert Gesink, Paris - Nice - Stage 1
Robert Gesink, Criterium International - Young Rankings
Robert Gesink, Criterium International - Points Rankings
Ruben Plaza, Dauphine Libere - Stage 4
Ruben Plaza, Dauphine Libere - Stage 8
Ruben Plaza, Vuelta a Espana - Stage 7
Ruben Plaza, Vuelta a Espana - Stage 14
Ruben Plaza, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Stage 3
Ruben Plaza, Tour of California - Overall Rankings
Dominique Cornu, Vuelta a Espana - Stage 1
Dominique Cornu, Tour de Romandie - Stage 1
Michael Van Stayen, Tour de France - Stage 2
Michael Van Stayen, FBD Eire Tour - Stage 1
Michael Van Stayen, FBD Eire Tour - Stage 2
Michael Van Stayen, Deutschland Tour - Stage 6
Joost Posthuma, Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 2
Joost Posthuma, Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 7
Robert Gesink, Criterium International - Overall Rankings
Robert Gesink, Criterium International - Stage 2
Robert Gesink, Tour de France - Stage 15
Robert Gesink, Criterium International - Mountain Rankings
Robert Gesink, Paris - Nice - Young Rankings
Robert Gesink, World ITT Championships
Ruben Plaza, Vuelta a Espana - Stage 1
Ruben Plaza, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Overall Rankings
Domnique Cornu, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Stage 1
Michael Van Stayen, Deutschland Tour - Stage 1
Other notable results:
4th, Ruben Plaza - Vuelta a Espana
6th, Robert Gesink, Liege - Bastogne - Liege
7th, Joost Posthuma, Tour of Northern Europe
8th, Robert Gesink, Amstel Gold Race
8th, Dominique Cornu, Chrono des Herbiers
8th, Ruben Plaza, Badaling International
9th, Dominique Cornu, World ITT Championships
10th, Robert Gesink, Tour de France
10th, Joost Pothuma, Chrono des Herbiers
10th, Michael Van Stayen, GP de Fourmies
10th, Ruben Plaza, World ITT Championships
11th, Ruben Plaza, Dauphine Libere
11th, Ruben Plaza, Vuelta a Asturias
11th, Dominique Cornu, Criterium International
12th, Robert Gesink, Paris - Nice
13th, Joost Posthuma, Criterium International
15th, Wim Van Huffel, Giro d'Italia
15th, Marcel Sieberg, Rund um Koln
17th, Laurens Ten Dam, Tirreno - Adriatico
18th, Michael Van Stayen, Rund um Koln
19th, Ruben Plaza, Chrono des Herbiers
19th, Francisco Mancebo, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
21st, Laurens Ten Dam, Strade Bianche
21st, Wim Van Huffel, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
22nd, Robin van der Hugenhaben, Classique du Grand-Duche
23rd, Robin van der Hugenhaben, Giro d'Italia
23rd, Robin van der Hugenhaben, Paris - Nice
23rd, Dominique Cornu, Tour of California
23rd, Wim Van Huffel, Badaling International
24th, Robin van der Hugenhaben, Tour de France
24th, Robin van der Hugenhaben, Badaling International
25th, Robert Gesink, Giro di Lombardia
25th, Marcel Sieberg, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
26th, Wim Van Huffel, Tour de Suisse
27th, Francisco Mancebo, Tour de Suisse
25th, Hans Dekkers, Rund um Koln
25th, Michael Van Stayen, Tour of Qatar
26th, Wim Van Huffel, Tour de Suisse
27th, Francisco Mancebo, Vuelta a Espana
27th, Francisco Mancebo, Tour de Suisse
28th, Michael Van Stayen, Milano - San Remo
28th, Laurens Ten Dam, Classique du Grand-Duche
29th, Wim Van Huffel, Vuelta a Espana
29th, Robin van der Hugenhaben, Milano - San Remo
29th, Marcel Sieberg, Gent - Wevelgem
30th, Klaas Sys, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
30th, Marcel Sieberg, Strade Bianche
36th, Francisco Mancebo, Tour de France
Edited by alexkr00 on 17-03-2011 11:44
Even though last year we had some amazing results, we managed to achieve only 3 from our 5 goals, so for this season we got only a 1,000€ increase from last year's budget, which means that we have 5,301,000€ to start the transfer season with.
Last year our main goal was to win a Dutch race, Profonde Van Drenthe. That won't change this year, a win in Eindhoven TTT being our most important goal to achieve. In 2010 we rode there as an Wildcard and finished 8th, but we will look into singing some time - trial specialists in the transfer window, while Reus and Cornu will hopefully renew their contracts with us for another season as well.
Since we are a Benelux based team, after a Dutch goal, the second most important goal is a Belgian race. And what a race: La Doyenne of the classics. Kirchen performed brilliantly last year but he's getting older so we also might need an another puncheur, who could be a able to get a top 3 in Liege - Bastogne - Liege.
We rode last year in Criterium International as an Wildcard and got some pretty nice results. Albert was very close to get a stage win, van der Hugenhaben got the KoM jersey, while Cornu and Reus got some nice places in the general classification. Still they were quite far from the top 3, but they will both look forward to beat last year's results.
Since we are a new team to the Pro Tour and didn't ride any Grand Tours yet, we don't have a great experience with those kind of races. A top 10 is expected in Vuelta a Espana, the second Grand Tour of the year and it will hopefully be achieved by one of the stage riders we are going to try to sign in the transfer window.
In our first professional cycling season we finished 2nd in the Continental Tour team standings. But the Pro Tour is an another league, where the results come way harder that in the CT and for our first season here our goal is not to get relegated but the sponsors want more than that and they want us to finish in the first half of the rankings, which means that we have to grab a top 10 spot in the Team Standings.
Edited by alexkr00 on 26-02-2010 22:16
untal wrote:
Well, Cornu may not be as useful on PT as he was on CT, so you could gain an enormous amount of money on a loan or even in a sell.
It all depends on how much he asks for during the contract renewals. He had an amazing season and I want to keep him as he could also be a vital rider for Eindhoven TTT
I know but as I said I'm planning to buy some good time - trialists during the transfers and yeah maybe I'm a little bit too confident
I chose that one as a main goal as if you manage to get the best team in time - trials you will most likely win them, while the classics or the stage races are a little bit more unpredictable
I'm not planning on selling my TTT team of Rogers / Ford / Posthuma / Van Winden / Flens though, with a TTT in this years Giro You'll have to compete with that
so that's 3 Dutch time - trialists not available but I'm not worried since the Netherlands are probably the country with the most time - trial specialists.
And then you're overlooked Wikipedia's rather good Time Trial lineup with Zabriskie et al.! A tough goal you've set yourself. A top 3 would have been wiser possibly.
