During the Tour de France, Rabobank's former cyclocross World Champion, Lars Boom, commented extremely negatively to the possibility of Matti Breschel joining the Rabobank team next season. Just a few days ago, the rumors were proved true, and Breschel is in fact heading to the Dutch team in 2011. Not long after that announcement, comes news of Boom's apology. It didn't take too long for Dutch super talent, Lars Boom, to come around to the idea of Matti Breschel heading to Rabobank.
Just two weeks ago, Boom was adamantly opposed to the addition of the 2009 Danish Champion and this year's Dwars door Vlaanderen winner: "It is a sign from the team management that the Classics squad is not good enough and that they are dissatisfied with their riders. I think otherwise: we delivered a good performance in the Spring Classics this year, and I think it is totally unnecessary to have Matti Breschel in the team."
Unfortunately for Boom, that decision was not left to him. Team manager Erik Breukink, feels quite the opposite about Breschel's possibilities with Rabobank - he feels that Breschel's presence will be a huge help to Sebastian Langeveld and Boom himself when the racing heats up on the cobbles next spring.
"Breschel has already proven that he is one of the strongest one day riders. Together with Boom and Langeveld, we can build a strong team for the Classics."
A feud between two Classics stars before they even put on the same jersey? Not exactly an ideal scenario. Team management were quick to put out the potential fire between Boom and Breschel, and noted that Boom and Breschel had smoothed things out.
"We asked Lars Boom what happened. He is young and behaved stupidly, but that's not something that he should have said. He was surprised about the rumors and said so, but Lars approached Matti the day after and talked it over with him," said Breukink on feltet.dk.
Rabobank has tried with varying amounts of lack of success to find a rider capable of contending for Classics victories. Breschel seems to be the first rider that could see the team forward in 2011.
Erik Breukink certainly hopes so: "The expectations for Breschel is that he can make it to the finales and sprint for victory. Matti Breschel is a rider who can deliver great results throughout the year. He will make our team stronger in many different races. The Spring Classics are the main target, but he sprints well and has a good punch, so he can win stages in both small stages and the big Tours, where, among the team, he will have a greater chance of scoring stage wins."
While his capabilities in the Classics and sprints are no mystery, Breschel could combine with three-time World Champion, Oscar Freire, to form a potent duo in the major sprints. There's no reason to think that a Breschel/Freire pairing come March next year couldn't lead to another victory for Rabobank at Milan-Sanremo.