Brian Holm has been in the news speaking about the Rasmus Guldhammer situation, saying that he likes the rider and would give him another chance with the team despite the 21 year old’s decision to quit.
However Holm has also spoken about the need to stay slightly detached from those he is overseeing. He is regarded as a warm person, but has said that he knows he must not get too close to the riders as sometimes tough decisions need to be made.
The former professional spoke about his previous team manager Walter Godefroot, saying that he gave him an important tip seven years ago.
“When I joined Telekom in 2003, I said to him: 'Walter, you never called me privately, asking how I felt or said hello to my wife.' They he leaned back and said, ‘no, but I was your boss, so we were not supposed to be good friends. It was I who might have to fire you, it was I who would have to decrease your pay. I do not think it would be easier for me if we were friends. I would be a bad boss [then]’,” he told SPN.dk.
Holm appears to struggle at times with this detachment, as the Guldhammer case shows. He admits becoming friends with the riders. “I come to love them,” he said. “They are almost like a type of son to me.”
He’s also developed a close bond with the HTC Columbia team itself, and as a result he reversed a decision to leave. Holm had accepted a contract with the new Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project and was set to work alongside Kim Andersen, a directeur sportif he has a lot of respect for, as well as the Schleck brothers and other top riders. But towards the end of August he decided that he couldn’t follow through with those plans.
“To leave Columbia would be like leaving a lover, and I cannot right now.”