Brian Holm to steer Omega Pharma-QuickStep at the Tour de France 2012
Brian Holm is considered to be one of the most successful Directeurs Sportif in professional cycling. He has signed a two year deal with Team Quick Step and will be seen at the Tour de France 2012 with the Belgian squad.
The cyclist represented Team HTC-Highroad in 2011 and helped the side achieve a solid fourth position in the UCI team rankings.
The American squad was inspiring throughout the season and secured 886 points after its impressive performance. He was associated with HTC, and its previous name T-Mobile, since 2003.
While commenting on the news of his Tour de France participation, Holm told sporten.dk, “I will take on one more Tour de France, although I would have thought 2011 would be the last one”.
The Dane mentioned that Tom Boonen is in his best form and is looking good for the season ahead, “But it is clear that he [Boonen] now has been riding at top level for so many years that for him it is now both about finding his place and gaining new motivation”.
Holm is positive to produce results for the team at the Tour de France and the rest of the season.
He has lived in Belgium for 13 years and considers it as his second home. Brian’s vast cycling experience in the region was one reason why Patrick Lefevere chose him for the role.
Talking about the closure of his former, Team HTC-Highroad, he cited, “Everything must go, when you close a team. This includes everything from the team bus to the bikes, jerseys and drink bottles. It all gets sold for the highest possible price”.
The 49-year-old started his professional career as a Sports Director with the Danish team, Acceptcard, in 1999.
Before joining the American squad, HTC, Holm stayed with Team Fakta and also the Danish National Team.
Brian helped Mark Cavendish during the World Championships and rode along the British coach, Rod Ellingworth, during the event.
Cavendish briefed that Holm is an influential, prominent and a motivational coach.
He will now direct a number of top players in the sport to the coming Tour de France 2012. Some of the big names to represent the team in 2012 include, Peter Velits, Martin Velits, Michal Golas, Tom Boonen, Levi Leipheimer and Sylvain Chavanel.
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