News

The combined cycling and ice skating squad Team LottoNL-Jumbo presented its 27 cyclists today with the overall job of winning more races in 2016. The lead-out for the sprinters will be an important part of that target, but the support for the classification riders has increased as well. What is also clear is that the collaboration with the ice skating team delivered interesting insight and commercial opportunities.
 
“Since the team building camp with the Dutch Royal Army last November, we are carrying out our 2018 vision," team director Richard Plugge said. “Our visions came closer together during those days. We noticed that during the training camp in December that the atmosphere in the group is great because of the fact that we can carry out our vision until 2018 with the support of our sponsors.”
 
The team changed the plan bringing it to an higher level and making specific choices. “We have to be focussed a lot more," he added. “We’re choosing the sprint first. We have three very good sprinters with Moreno Hofland, Dylan Groenewegen and Tom Van Asbroeck. It’s our job to make sure that those guys are at the right place in the right time. When we’re able to do that, they can win a lot of races.”
 
Focus
“The second part we’re focussing on is the group of the general classification riders," Plugge continued. Plugge will use the train principle to its maximum in every type of terrain and race towards 2018 when the whole plan has to be mature. “It’s also necessary to have a lead-out for our best climbers. We had such a lead-out, but it was not enough. We signed some riders for the upcoming season who are able to stay with our front men much longer than what we did last year. Primoz Roglic and Enrico Battaglin are the best examples. When we’re looking at the long term, we’re going to work with young talents like Koen Bouwman and Alexey Vermeulen. With those two cyclists we look to the future, the long game. We also improved our time trials massively last year. That’s an essential part of scoring results in stage races and we will keep on improving and developing it.”
 
There is still the classics team. “With Sep Vanmarcke, we have a world class rider in the spring classics on the cobble stones," Plugge explained. “And we have Mike Teunissen and Tom Van Asbroeck as well, our trumps in the spring classics. We have to use our lead-out for the sprint as well for bringing Sep in good position in the spring classics.
 
“I think that we have a stronger team for the spring classics this year. Jos van Emden, Robert Wagner, Tom Leezer, Maarten Wynants and Maarten Tjallingii already proved that they’re good at it at the WorldTour level. Our team improved especially in the second line this year.
 
“The collaboration with the ice skating team is developing good, as well”, Plugge continued. “We’re doing more and more together. Sven Kramer will join us at our training camp this month, that’s a good example of our developed collaboration. The coaches are consulting a lot with each other and the two teams are sharing more and more commercially, as well. The teams are growing with each other. Together we keep on looking for the best possibilities in aerodynamics, we’re talking about testing muscle strength, and we learn from each other in regards to food nutrition and using supplements.”

Wilco during the team presentation: “I was a little bit too eager last season and that’s why I didn’t make the most of it. That’s the most important lesson that last year taught me. I won’t participate in all the Ardennes Classics this year. I will only do the Flèche Wallonne. Besides that I will ride the Ruta del Sol, Paris-Nice, the Tour of Catalonia, the Tour de Romandie, the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France. Those races suit me better.
 
“I’m going to train on altitude twice between those races, as well. I think that I’m ahead of where I was one year ago. I did some extra physical training. I did the right things this winter and I’m ready for the upcoming season.”

The combined cycling and ice skating squad Team LottoNL-Jumbo presented its 27 cyclists today with the overall job of winning more races in 2016. The lead-out f

Wilco finished 23rd in the world championship individual time trail in Richmond, USA. Vasil Kiryienka of Team Sky won the title by surprise. The Byelorussian knocked down the Italian Adrian Malori (Movistar) and Frenchman Jérôme Coppel (IAM Cycling).

“I had hoped for something more. On a good day perhaps a place in the top 1o,” Wilco said after the race. “What can I say more. I rode as fast as I could, but I couldn’t go any faster today. At the national championship I had a little more more power than you know I could have been a little faster here. But that was not for today.”

Wilco finished 23rd in the world championship individual time trail in Richmond, USA. Vasil Kiryienka of Team Sky won the title by surprise. The Byelorussian kn

Wilco finished third overall in the Eneco Tour on Sunday. The podium spot for the Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider was never threatened during the 188.6-kilometre final stage from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw to Geraardsbergen.

BMC’s Manuel Quinziato won the stage, a mini version of the Tour of Flanders, after the Italian got the better of his fellow escapees in the final kilometres. Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) took the overall victory, with Greg van Avermaet (BMC) second.

“I’m happy with my third place. After the Tour de France, this is a big boost,” Kelderman said. “I really needed this after the disappointment of the Tour, and the Eneco Tour is an important race.”

Kelderman considered an attack on the Muur van Geraardsbergen on Sunday, but thought better of it: “The race was under strict control and I knew that riders would responded if I went. I toyed with the idea of an attack on the penultimate climb, but when a few others accelerated, I could only react.”

Wilco wore the leader’s white jersey going into Saturday’s penultimate stage, and despite a staunch defense, he could not prevent Wellens from pulling on the jersey after winning the stage. Kelderman managed to defend an important third-place podium spot.

“I really struggled, but I don’t think I did anything wrong this week,” Kelderman said about the valuable lessons he learned. “Yesterday was just very difficult because there were so many strong riders in the front. The race wasn’t controllable. Besides that, there’s something extra to being a race leader.”

Wilco finished third overall in the Eneco Tour on Sunday. The podium spot for the Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider was never threatened during the 188.6-kilometre final

Wilco swapped out the overall lead in the Eneco Tour on Friday with Team LottoNL-Jumbo team-mate Jos van Emden in a tough stage over the hills in Dutch Limburg. Van Emden led the race after his victory in Thursday’s time trial in Hoogerheide.

FDJ’s Johan Le Bon won the stage out of a breakaway formed with Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Garmin) that made it to the line in Sittard-Geleen. In the closing moments of the race, Kelderman hunted down the two leaders with a small counter-attack. He managed to limit the time loss to nine seconds, just enough to take the lead. The difference with Van Baarle, who slots into second overall, is only one second.

“It was a successful day,” Wilco concluded. “I’m pleased that the leader’s jersey remained within the team. I’m in white now, which is a nice boost. As a team we will defend the jersey over the coming days as a team. The final stages suit me, but there are a lot of strong riders here. We’ll try our best. It’s going to be hard. Anything could happen.”

Wilco swapped out the overall lead in the Eneco Tour on Friday with Team LottoNL-Jumbo team-mate Jos van Emden in a tough stage over the hills in Dutch Limburg.

Departing from the Pyrenees, the transitional stage 13 of the Tour de France ended with the remnants of a small breakaway including Wilco, being caught within sight of the finishing line. Kelderman continues to recover from a back injury suffered in the massive crash during the opening week of the Tour. The 198.5km stage had riders struggling to keep hydrated in souring temperatures. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) sprinted for the win, narrowly beating Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), and Jan Bakelants (Ag2R La Mondiale) in third.

“After my crash, I tried to save as much energy as possible,” Wilco said. “We picked out some stages to try something, and this was one of them. I don’t think my back will fully recover this Tour, but racing is not a problem now.”

The 24-year-old was one of many riders involved in the massive crash on stage 3 that forced several big names to abandon, including the yellow jersey of the day Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing). His teammate Laurens ten Dam dislocated his shoulder in the incident but continued on, while Kelderman suffered several abrasions that have affected his riding since.

“A little more pain is OK,” he added. “If your legs hurt, you don’t really feel all the other pain.”

After finishing seventh at the Giro d’Italia this May, followed by fourth at the Criterium du Dauphiné, Kelderman was shooting for a top ten finish at his debut Tour. Those hopes were abandoned after the crash, as he has lost over an hour on GC since. Following a challenging first week with riders recovering from their injuries, LottoNL-Jumbo was forced to change tactics, looking to stage 13 for a chance to win.

“The plan was that many of our guys would try and get in the break,” Nico Verhoeven said, sports director for the squad. “The first group directly proved to be the right one. We thought it was not going to happen for Wilco, but in the end, he came so close. He was stranded with only 250 meters to go. Chapeau for Wilco.”

Kelderman had succeeded in joining the break that was kept on a tight leash by the peloton throughout the day. After a final attempt to gain time on the last climb, the gap began to drop dramatically as the sprinter teams organised. Kelderman and his other two breakaway companions gave it their all, only to be caught within sight of the line.

“On the road, I did not believe I would fight for the win,” he added. “When we accelerated and they didn’t really close in on us, I started to believe in my chances. On the final climb, I gave all I had and didn’t look back.

"With only 500 metres to go, I thought about a victory but when they caught us, I was done. Very sad, I was so close,” he said immediately after finishing.

“Wilco and the other attackers were great today, they rode very hard,” Verhoeven said proudly. “Wilco got in the mix even if he isn’t fully fit – that’s a positive sign. He is not 100%, but he still almost won a very difficult stage in the Tour.”

Departing from the Pyrenees, the transitional stage 13 of the Tour de France ended with the remnants of a small breakaway including Wilco, being caught within s

Wilco Kelderman became the new Dutch champion in the individual time trial on Wednesday. The talented rider from Amersfoort finished the 54.8 kilometres ahead of LottoNL-Jumbo team-mates Rick Flens and Jos van Emden, a full LottoNL-Jumbo podium.

“I never expected this result,” wilco said after his victory. “Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant – Alpecin) was the man to beat and it was going to be very difficult to be faster than him. But everything came together today. We’re riding on a very good Bianchi Aquila and Mathieu Heijboer especially put a lot of time in developing our time trial. That’s why we believed in our chances to finish in the top three. This result is superb.”

Because of his victory, Wilco is able to start the opening time trial of the Tour de France in Utrecht in the red, white and blue jersey of the Dutch champion. “That is going to be fantastic, of course,” he said happily. “It’s always special to put on a champion’s jersey. This is my first national title with the professionals and that feels even better.”

Source: Team LottoNL-Jumbo

Wilco Kelderman became the new Dutch champion in the individual time trial on Wednesday. The talented rider from Amersfoort finished the 54.8 kilometres ahead o

Team LottoNL-Jumbo will take a group of nine motivated riders to the Tour de France. Wilco Kelderman and Robert Gesink are the team’s main guns, with Steven Kruijswijk and Laurens ten Dam as second options in the general classification.

“The fact that we’re going to start in the Netherlands is wonderful and I’m very happy to be there,” Gesink said. “I have some great memories from the last time that the Tour de France started here and I can’t wait until the departure in Utrecht. But I’m really looking forward to the moment we leave Holland, to challenge the moments."

“For the moment, I have to make sure that I have time enough to rest from my effort in the Tour de Suisse. Besides that, I’m planning to preview the stage to Plateau de Beille from my home in Girona.”
  
Special edition
“Everyone is ready,” Verhoeven continued. “Most of the riders prepared themselves at altitude for the Tour de France. It was the first time to do so for Sep Vanmarcke. He improved his form in the Tour de Suisse. Robert and Laurens chose to do their preparations in the United States and that went smoothly, as well. Besides that Robert and Wilco will not start in the Dutch national road race because of their preparation for the Tour. Together, we’re looking forward to a Tour de France which is even more special for us because of the start in our own country.”
 
Team line-up:
Robert Gesink, Wilco Kelderman, Laurens ten Dam, Steven Kruijswijk, Sep Vanmarcke, Bram Tankink, Tom Leezer, Jos van Emden and Paul Martens.


Source: Team LottoNL-Jumbo

Team LottoNL-Jumbo will take a group of nine motivated riders to the Tour de France. Wilco Kelderman and Robert Gesink are the team’s main guns, with Stev

Team LottoNL-Jumbo Sports Director Merijn Zeeman intends to get in the mix with his riders daily in the Critérium du Dauphiné, from June 7 to 14. Wilco Kelderman wants to prepare as well as possible for the Tour de France, which starts July 4 in Utrecht.

The 24-year-old Dutchman went on a three-week altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada, Spain. Last year, he finished fourth overall after having completed the Giro d’Itaila. This season he’ll ride the Dauphiné in the run-up to the Tour.

“Last year, the race was a like a desert for me, this time it’s about preparation,” Kelderman said. “That’s different of course. I don’t know how my shape is exactly, although I have been able to train properly in Spain.

“I’m aiming for a good result, but the most important thing is to end the race with a nice feeling. After the final stage, I still have three weeks before the start of the Tour. That is quite long.”

After the Dauphiné, he will remain in the Alps to train.

Source: Team LottoNL-Jumbo

Team LottoNL-Jumbo Sports Director Merijn Zeeman intends to get in the mix with his riders daily in the Critérium du Dauphiné, from June 7 to 14.