Yannick Eijssen is in the process of completing his first year as a professional with the BMC Racing Team. Speaking to VeloNation, he admitted that he finds the racing much harder in the top ranks. The Belgian hasn’t had any victories this season but said that is not the team’s objective for him as a neo-pro.
“It’s great to do the races that you first see on tv, now you’re part of it. It’s what you want to do when you turn professional but it’s also very hard, of course. It’s a big level,” he said.
“The team didn’t expect much this year. That’s what they told me - do your best for the team and learn a lot and that’s what I did. Sometimes at races I helped the team and tried to learn a lot and tried to go in breakaways and do the things that I could do.”
One notable result the 22 year old did achieve was a fifth place finish on stage five of the Tour of Austria. Although he didn’t win that day, the outcome of the race gave him the confidence to compete at the sport’s highest level.
“I was pretty quick the first day then I crashed the second day and after that I wasn’t so good anymore, but then [Directeur Sportif] Max Sciandri motivated me. I didn’t know which stage is was [stage five -ed.] and I went on a little bit of a descent with an HTC rider then gave everything I had for 20km’s and we made it. I was very happy that [the peloton] didn’t catch us so I got fifth that day.”
It is not uncommon to see neo-pro’s win races in their first year as professionals anymore. This year, Eijssen’s team-mate Taylor Phinney won the opening prologue in the Eneco Tour and held onto fourth place overall by the end of the race. Other first year professionals to have won races this year are John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad), Jesse Sergent (Team RadioShack), Michael Matthews (Rabobank) and Alex Dowsett (Sky Procycling).
“Last year they were also quick and winning, not every race but a lot of races. They are talented, they are champions. Everything’s going well and they are getting stronger every year,” Eijssen told VeloNation.
He proudly rode the Eneco Tour alongside Taylor Phinney where they looked to defend the leader’s jersey that the young American gained on the first day. Phinney held the jersey for three days, which meant Eijssen was one of the workhorses seen on the front of the peloton riding in support of his leader.
“I thought, man if I have to do this for another week, I cant manage this… But I got stronger and stronger and as the stages went on I could do more work, so the team was really happy and I was also happy to do that.”
The Belgian counts himself as smarter, having learnt a lot this year. He told VeloNation he is looking at stepping it up a level next season. He will remain with the BMC Racing team for 2012, and looks to make an impact at the top level of the sport.