Dominic Klemme has two years as a professional with the Saxo Bank team under his belt. For 2011, the German switches to the Luxembourg Cycling Project with the Schleck brothers. He hopes to make an even bigger step up than he did this year.
Klemme was second in the German national road race championships in 2009, his first year as a professional. This year, he showed a lot of promise in the spring classics and hopes to get some good results in the early part of the season. Especially his 14th place in Paris-Roubaix made Klemme more known in the scene. "That showed me that I can do better there in the coming years," he told Radsport News.
While he was unable to win a race so far, he finished third in the Hel van Het Mergelland, fourth in the GP Herning and ninth in Rund um Köln. With a fifth place at the German Nationals he confirmed that he is one of the top racers in his country. "Overall I am somewhat happy with the season. It was already better than last year."
Klemme, 24 years of age, has done a Grand Tour, finishing the Vuelta a España this year. He also made it to the Worlds in Geelong, even though he didn't complete the tough course in Australia.
Klemme does not regret his decision to move teams after two years with Bjarne Riis. "Maybe at Saxo Bank I could have gotten more responsibility, after so many riders left. But in Luxembourg there are my friends and the people with whom I worked together the most during the past two years," Klemme said.
The goal for 2011 is clear. "I want to make an even bigger step forward than in the past season." Klemme will start in Qatar.