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Competition Profile: RABOBANK 2007




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Written by Wicky (2007-01-28 17:59)
Translated by (2007-01-28 17:59)

It takes a lot to please Dutchmen, and thus high expectations surround the only Dutch team in the ProTour. Last season they didn’t meet those expectations that often, starting off with disappointment during the spring classics. Fortunately, an outstanding Tour de France with four stage victories and the polka dot jersey in Paris ended all criticism about their performance, even though team leader Menchov couldn’t keep up with the competition for the entire three weeks and slowly dropped in the yellow jersey ranking as the Tour progressed.


Rabobank saved their season thanks to that great Tour, yet still the team managers should remain critical concerning their riders and mainly themselves. Even though the Tour de France is their sponsors’ main objective, more should have been accomplished by the cooperative bankingsquad, considering they have one of the biggest budgets in the ProTour. It’s a good thing Freire has the capability to win stages with his hands ties behind his back, otherwise Rabobank wouldn’t even have accomplished half the victories they managed to take; the very fast Spaniard is one of the few strong finishers in the squad. The main concern with Boogerd, main man for the classic races, is that he isn’t coolheaded enough to take the big victories and even worse is that most of his team mates are nowhere to be seen during the last part of these stages.


For the upcoming season, manager Theo de Rooy managed to bring in quite some interesting experienced riders including Van Bon (Davitamon-Lotto) and Van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel) for the spring classics and Moerenhout for the hilly classics and the Giro. As long as they remain fit these gentlemen will be able to play in the finals of these stages, however long-term results will probably be disappointing. It would be better to give youth a shot, with home-breed Flens, Gesink and Kozontchuk (and Veelers later in 2007), the counter will reach nine riders originating from Rabobanks’ own youth training facility. Sebastian Langeveld was added to this list of talents after an ambiguous Dutch Championship. All of them are extremely talented, but not quite yet professionals.


However, these talents are drowned by the hard work and good intentions of the team staff, with Jukka Vastaranta as an example, who left to Jartazi this winter. While they should be given time to develop themselves, they are forced to show results way too fast. This resulted in the depart of Kolobnev to miracle man Riis. The Russian rider was used at the wrong times at the wrong places and therefore the all-rounder never got to show what he had in store, as he is actually the rider with a strong finish and the ability to cross hills and smaller mountains that Rabobank needs so badly.


A better decision made by the team management is keeping sprinter Graeme Brown around. The Australian had a rough first year, but in the Tour of Germany he got to show his real potential. The Rabobank-squad does have several talents in their midst and it depends on the team management if their potential will be translated into results.


New:
Rick Flens, Robert Gesink, Dmitri Kozontchuk, (Rabobank continental team), Sebastian Langeveld (Skil-Shimano), Koos Moerenhout (Phonak), Leon van Bon (Davitamon-Lotto), Max van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel), Tom Veelers (joins the team later in 2007, coming from Rabobank continental team)


Departed:
Erik Dekker ( now DS for Rabo), Marc Wauters (retired), Roy Sentjens (Predictor-Lotto), Alexandr Kolobnev (CSC), Niels Scheuneman (Unibet), Jukka Vastaranta (Jartazi)

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