Can Rabobank fulfil its potential with a successful 2012 Tour de France? If so this looks to the year in which the stars are aligning for Rabobank. Robert Gesink is coming off an overall GC win at the Tour of California and this may be the year he elevates himself the next level which he has threatened to do since his 6th place in 2010. Along with Gesink, Rabobank boast Bauke Mollema as another top ten GC candidate. Despite only featuring once in the Tour and finishing a lowly 70th, Mollema has shown he can match it in a Grand Tour after his 4th place in last year’s Vuelta. In the sprints, Mark Renshaw will be looking to get one over Mark Cavendish who he was a lead out man at HTC for until last season. Steven Kruijswijk looks to be a promising candidate for the young rider’s classification whose potential further highlights the level of success that surrounds the Dutch team. Furthermore, Luis Leon Sanchez will be a genuine threat in the three ITT stages and as a three time stage winner and 11th place finisher in 2010 is a proven Tour rider.
The experience of Sanchez will certainly be crucial for Gesink and Mollema if they are to mount a challenge for top GC positions. The Hardman Laurens ten Dam will also be a crucial rider for the Rabobank challenge for Tour honours providing tactical nous and protection of the flat. In the sprints Renshaw may find himself fending off the other teams as he mounts his own challenge for stage wins. Renshaw won't be given full support unless the GC ambitions of Gesink and Mollema have faulted but even then that support may be transferred to Kruijswijk depending on how he is riding.
Steven Kruijswijk and Maarten Wynants are the only Rabobank riders making their debut at the Tour in 2012. This is a reflection upon the experience in the Rabobank team and come the third week of the Tour, may be important in ensuring Gesink’s ability to fade mentally and then physically are limited. The mental strength of Gesink has been questioned when he has failed to live up to expectations. If Gesink is to crash and carry injuries through mountain stages he may again slip to a lowly position of pull out of the Tour. Gesink and Mollema will both need to attack in the mountains in order to gain time of his rivals as their time trialling is nothing special and will not win them the Tour. Gesink will have his teammates as attacking allies and that will bode well for the Dutchmen when he looks to attack. Gesink showed that he can initiate attacks and carry them out to a stages conclusion as he showed at the Tour of California. A final positive for Gesink is that he looks to have recovered from a broken leg he suffered late last year.
Rabobank look to be focused on strong performances in the mountains. Renshaw will be hoping for some support in the flat stages but his team is far more focused on yellow than green. Unlike some of the other teams who are trying to balance GC and sprinting ambitions, Rabobank appear to be a GC team with a sprinter. Last year Sanchez was the shining light for Rabobank with a win in Stage 9 but that was about the extent of Rabobank 2011 Tour success. Gesink wore the youth classification jersey for several stages in an otherwise disappointing Tour. In 2012 a strong GC performance by its three GC men will justify the team selection and slant towards the overall rather than purely chasing stage wins as Rabobank has done in recent years.
2012 looms as a year in which Rabobank can mount a genuine challenge for the overall. Not since Michael Rasmussen was evicted from the 2007 Tour has Rabobank had a rider in a convincing GC position in the 3rd week. The three pronged attack of Gesink, Mollema and Kruijswijk have the potential to blow the race apart in the mountains. However, the impetus needs to be on the Dutch riders as they cannot wait for the attacks to happen. They need to be the instigators; an early stage win will boost confidence within the team and could be crucial to ensure the mental fragility which has also become a characteristic of the team is banished for the Tour. The Dutch may have reason to feel a little more optimistic about their GC chances in 2012 for good reason.
The experience of Sanchez will certainly be crucial for Gesink and Mollema if they are to mount a challenge for top GC positions. The Hardman Laurens ten Dam will also be a crucial rider for the Rabobank challenge for Tour honours providing tactical nous and protection of the flat. In the sprints Renshaw may find himself fending off the other teams as he mounts his own challenge for stage wins. Renshaw won't be given full support unless the GC ambitions of Gesink and Mollema have faulted but even then that support may be transferred to Kruijswijk depending on how he is riding.
Steven Kruijswijk and Maarten Wynants are the only Rabobank riders making their debut at the Tour in 2012. This is a reflection upon the experience in the Rabobank team and come the third week of the Tour, may be important in ensuring Gesink’s ability to fade mentally and then physically are limited. The mental strength of Gesink has been questioned when he has failed to live up to expectations. If Gesink is to crash and carry injuries through mountain stages he may again slip to a lowly position of pull out of the Tour. Gesink and Mollema will both need to attack in the mountains in order to gain time of his rivals as their time trialling is nothing special and will not win them the Tour. Gesink will have his teammates as attacking allies and that will bode well for the Dutchmen when he looks to attack. Gesink showed that he can initiate attacks and carry them out to a stages conclusion as he showed at the Tour of California. A final positive for Gesink is that he looks to have recovered from a broken leg he suffered late last year.
Rabobank look to be focused on strong performances in the mountains. Renshaw will be hoping for some support in the flat stages but his team is far more focused on yellow than green. Unlike some of the other teams who are trying to balance GC and sprinting ambitions, Rabobank appear to be a GC team with a sprinter. Last year Sanchez was the shining light for Rabobank with a win in Stage 9 but that was about the extent of Rabobank 2011 Tour success. Gesink wore the youth classification jersey for several stages in an otherwise disappointing Tour. In 2012 a strong GC performance by its three GC men will justify the team selection and slant towards the overall rather than purely chasing stage wins as Rabobank has done in recent years.
2012 looms as a year in which Rabobank can mount a genuine challenge for the overall. Not since Michael Rasmussen was evicted from the 2007 Tour has Rabobank had a rider in a convincing GC position in the 3rd week. The three pronged attack of Gesink, Mollema and Kruijswijk have the potential to blow the race apart in the mountains. However, the impetus needs to be on the Dutch riders as they cannot wait for the attacks to happen. They need to be the instigators; an early stage win will boost confidence within the team and could be crucial to ensure the mental fragility which has also become a characteristic of the team is banished for the Tour. The Dutch may have reason to feel a little more optimistic about their GC chances in 2012 for good reason.
Rabobank 2012 Tour de France Team
Robert Gesink
Steven Kruijswijk
Bauke Mollema
Mark Renshaw
Luis Leon Sanchez
Bram Tankink
Laurens Ten Dam
Maarten Tjallingii
Maarten Wynants
No comments:
Post a Comment