Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team misses out on Tour de France 2010

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Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News 2010

Published on Tuesday, 30 March 2010 16:02

Written by Marcella Crisanti

ASO didn’t invite the Dutch cycling team of Vacansoleil for the 97th edition of the Grande Boucle which starts on July 3th in Rotterdam.

After a successful entrance in the peloton in the spring of 2009 Vacansoleil did an exciting Tour of Spain. The team won a stage with Borut Bozic and saw Johnny Hoogerland finish 12th in the general classification. Currently, the fresh and attractive revelation of 2009, has five 2010 victories and it spoke out the ambition to participate in at least one giant tour in 2010.

 Now it is clear this won’t be the Tour or Giro manager Daan Luijkx looks ahead: “It is good to know where we are at so we can focus on what’s next. The upcoming weeks we have beautiful classics in which the team will show again what it is worth. Besides doing at least one giant tour we had a 2010 goal which was to finish in top-3 at a World Calendar classic and a goal to be in front for the whole season, all goals are still in reach. In September we might do Tour of Spain which we showed to be capable of doing good.”

Sport director Hilaire Van Der Schueren is very disappointed but agrees with Daan Luijkx: “At least one giant tour was the 2010 goal. For the riders it would have been too much to do the classics, Giro and Tour. However, the Tour of Spain perfectly fits the program.”

Looking on missing out on the invitation says Luijkx: “We shouldn’t forget that in the beginning of 2009 we had the goal to do one giant tour within three years and since that goal we experienced an incredible grow.  Besides that we need to be realistic, with the current wildcards system and agreement from the past, spots were rare. It surely wasn’t an easy decision for ASO. The agreement with the teams from 2008 counts till 2010 but ends in 2011. I have great trust in our riders and way of racing. The sponsors, with Vacansoleil and Batavus in front, are really ambitious and grow together with the team. Besides current sponsors we keep our eyes and ears open for an extra shirt sponsor which sees the team as great marketing vehicle and gives the team even more scope.”