Robert Gesink to represent the Dutch squad for the 2012 Olympic Games
Robert Gesink of Team Rabobank has made it through to the final Dutch squad for the 2012 London Olympics.
The cyclist will be accompanied by Lars Boom, Sebastien Langeveld, Lieuwe Westra and Nike Terpstra at the biggest sporting event of the season.
The 26-year-old was delighted after finding his name on the team’s squad, “I’m hearing more and more experts insist that it’s going to be a tough race,” Gesink told De Graaf.
“The ascent of Box Hill is like the Camerig and if you go up that nine times, then the race will definitely be hard”.
“That’s made me come back on my earlier decision [not to ride the Olympics.]”
Robert will fine-tune his form at the Tour de France and is determined to finish high overall after the final general classifications.
The Dutch opened his 2012 winning account with a stage 7 victory at the Tour of California and also occupied the top overall spot after the final general classifications.
Gesink was recently seen in action at the Netherlands Road Championships in which he showed a lot of discipline.
He achieved the sixth overall position after the race, finishing 2 minutes and 59 seconds behind the race leader.
Niki Terpstra of Team Omega Pharma-Quickstep occupied the top position after he finished the 228.8 kilometre race in a total time of 6 hours, 9 minutes and 33 seconds.
Lars Boom of Team Rabobank, Bertjan Lindeman of Team Vacansoleil-DCM, Michel Kreder of Team Garmin-Barracuda and Sebastian Langeveld of Team Orica GreenEdge achieved the next four positions.
“Modern cycling shows that there are bigger differences made in the time trials than in the mountains,” said Adri van Houwelingen is the Team Rabobank Manager.
“Even in the toughest mountain stages, it is often a matter of seconds”.
“There are some better time trial specialists in the race and based on this Tour route, it’s not realistic to talk about finishing on the podium”.
Gesink hold a total number of five Grand Tour appearances to his credit, including three Tour de France and two Vuelta a Espana participations throughout his career.
It will be interesting to see, if the Dutch manages to find the right momentum at the French Grand Tour ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games.
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