The need to secure new sponsorship can be a great motivator for cycling teams; conversely, the danger with a long-term deal is that complacency can set it. That’s something that Adri van Houwelingen is determined won’t happen to the Rabobank team, which confirmed this week that it had secured renewed backing from the title sponsor until the end of 2016.
“We have strengthened ourselves with a good number of riders who must guarantee victories,” the team manager told De Telegraaf.
“We are clearly stronger across the team. We also need to show more interest in other races, although the main goal is of course the Tour de France. With Gesink, we must go for the podium. Especially with the route of the next edition, where climbers are favoured, we should now aim for the top. You have to strike when the iron is hot. And Robert is no longer [just] a talent, he is a rider who has already arrived.”
Gesink finished sixth overall in this year’s Tour and the natural year-by-year progression expected should see the 24 year old continue to improve over the next three to four seasons. His increasing strength and competitiveness also saw him take two big wins, namely the ProTour Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal and the prestigious Italian single-day event, the Giro dell’Emilia. Looking at the season as a whole, the tall, thin Dutchman has certainly become a more complete rider.
Tour de France third-place finisher Denis Menchov may have now left the team for Geox-TMC, but given the age difference and the fact that he is clearly on the up-and-up, Gesink seems a much better bet for the future.
He will be bolstered by a strong support crew in the mountains, including new signing Luis Leon Sanchez. He realises the importance that the team leader is fully backed. “Gesink is young and he has shown that he can do great things in the mountains,” he told Cyclism’Actu. “For Rabobank, it’s also very important to have a Dutch leader.”