WorldTour ranking: 9/17
Win count: 7 (down from 23)
Top riders: Robert Gesink (41st), Wilco Kelderman (42nd), Steven Kruijswijk (55th)
Team LottoNL-Jumbo has had their fair share of ups and downs when it comes to title sponsorship. This year marked their third change of titles since long-time sponsor Rabobank left the sport at the end of 2012. The team was known as Blanco as it struggled to find a title sponsor for part of the 2013 season, then swapped to Belkin in the second half of 2013 and 2014, before securing sponsorship from LottoNL-Jumbo this year.
The team lost three strong riders to new teams at the end of last season: Bauke Mollema to Trek Factory Racing, Lars Boom to Astana and Theo Bos to MTN-Qhubeka. Mollema’s departure didn’t leave as big of a void as initially anticipated because Robert Gesink, another formidable Dutch GC rider, stepped up his game and brought the team a sixth overall at the Tour de France in July.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gesink had a rocky start to the season. Over the winter his partner had serious complications with her pregnancy that had Gesink at her side in the hospital and then he suffered from an early-season knee injury. Despite his trials, Gesink had respectable performances; a fifth overall at the Tour of California and ninth overall at the Tour de Suisse. His proven track record of four times in the top 10 in Grand Tours came to the fore at the Tour de France. He managed to finish a strong fourth place in stage 10 to La Pierre-Saint-Martin, and his sixth place overall made him the top Dutch rider in the race.
As far as Grand Tours go, the equally-as-impressive Steven Kruijswijk had a consistently strong showing in the mountains at the Giro d’Italia. He placed second in two stages; stage 9 from Benevento to San Giorgio del Sannio and stage 16 from Pinzolo to Aprica. He was also fifth in stages 14, 15, 19 and 20, and ended seventh place overall.
The team may not have gotten a victory out of Gesink or Kruijswijk but they did from Moreno Hofland, who took their first win of the season at the Tour de Yorkshire in May. The Dutch sprinter continued with their second win of the season at the Ster ZLM Toer. Wilco Kelderman picked up a victory at the Dutch national championships in the time trial, and he was ninth overall at the Volta Ciclsta a Catalunya and third overall at the Eneco Tour.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://ift.tt/1Hti2nq
No comments:
Post a Comment