There was a point, around the summer of 2016, when LottoNL-Jumbo appeared completely lost. Struggling for wins, bereft of ideas, they were simply making up the numbers. The nadir came during the Vuelta a España, when a post-stage press release landed in the Cyclingnews inbox. We’ll spare the gory details but suffice to say the communique made for desperate reading. 'We tried to get in the break, but we failed' seemed to be the gist.
One could almost visualize and certainly empathize with the poor, exasperated directeur sportif as he wiped his tired brow, scooped empty sweet wrappers from the glove compartment of the team car, and rolled off quotes to a desolate faced press officer. The team would eventually win a stage through the veteran exploits of Robert Gesink, but the season as a whole, while not as insipid as 2015, had been a washout. Something, almost everything, had to change.
Two years later and the team are virtually unrecognizable from their 2016 campaign. Yes, they still ride in a yellow and black mesh, and aboard Bianchi celeste bikes that provide a colour palette that shouldn't work - yet does - and the cadre of management remains almost intact, but the culture, ethos and genuine feel about the team is fundamentally different.
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In Primoz Roglic, Steven Kruijswijk, George Bennett and a flurry of young talent that includes Dylan Groenewegen, Sepp Kuss and Antwan Tolhoek, the team have a future brighter than almost any WorldTour rival. What’s more LottoNL-Jumbo are exciting to watch. Hell, even their press releases are worthy of reading.
The team's transformation has been steered by Richard Plugge - a onetime press officer for the team - and former editor of the Dutch version of Procycling.
Plugge can appear aloof and distant at times but he is also a strategist and businessman. You will never see him wind down the window of a team car and bellow orders at his riders like a Marc Madiot. He is the very antithesis of Rabobank’s former boss, Jan Raas. And you'll never find him psychobabble his way out of a corner like Dave Brailsford, but what he lacks in race experience he makes up for in other ways. Shrewd, calm and perhaps most importantly a natural survivor, he has turned LottoNL-Jumbo around.
Hitting rock bottom and changing the culture
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/a-change-in-mindset-the-evolution-of-lottonl-jumbo
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