Jeroen Blijlevens will coach Rabobank’s sprinters in the 2012 season
Dutch retired sprinter, Jeroen Blijlevens, will be seen in action with Team Rabobank. He will take care of the team’s sprinting department for the coming season. He will also be training Rabobank women’s team in the 2012 season.
The team was interested to sign Erik Zabel, HTC-Highroad’s previous coach but he had already been signed by Team Katusha.
Jeroen commented on joining the team, saying that many teams are hiring former players to coach their sprinters.
He said, “Everything is becoming more professional. There's more attention to detail. Cipollini is with Katusha, and now Zabel is going there, too”.
He further added that it is good to see that professional teams like Rabobank and Katusha are signing former sprinters to help their sides.
Blijlevens also stated, "Sprinters need to talk to people who know what it's like to ride a sprint. Sprinting is a sensation you have to know. Sprinters therefore prefer to take advice from someone who has experienced it all".
The Dutch team was founded in 1984 and was known as Kwantum for 1984 to 1986. The team rode under the name of Superconfex from 1987 to 1989. It was then renamed as Buckler from 1990 to 1992.
The team’s name was changed to Wordperfect for the next two years, 1993 to 1994 and then to Novell in 1995. It was finally given the name of Rabobank in 1996 and it still rides under the same name.
Jeroen’s experience will help the team in achieving its goals for the coming season. He will also extend his support to Rabobank women’s team, as Marianne Vos will lead the team in the coming season.
Team Rabobank has re-signed six of its riders, Stef Clement, Lars Boom, Juan Manuel Garate, Laurens Ten Dam, Steven Kruijswijk and Rick Flens. Mark Renshaw of Team HTC-Highroad is a new inclusion in the team.
The two cyclists to leave the side are Sebastian Langeveld and Pieter Weening, as both have joined GreenEdge for the 2012 season.
Rabobank Cycling Team is currently at the 10th position after the UCI World Tour Team rankings as of October 2011, with 673 points.
Only time will reveal if the experienced rider, Blijlevens, can help the team jump a few spots in the 2012 season.
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