De Groot sees a strong new generation at the Development Team: ‘Development is our priority'
The Umag Trophy marks the start of the season for Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Development Team on Wednesday. After a successful training camp in Denia, Spain, the promising young riders are ready to cross swords with their peers. We look ahead to the season with Robbert de Groot, Head of Development.
The training camp in Spain was the last camp before the races begin. How are you all doing?
"Very good. We have a lot of confidence in this group. Everyone is fit, well prepared and motivated to start the season. The training camp in Denia was the conclusion of the preparation, so it was mainly a matter of going over some tactical things and doing specific training sessions. For example, we did a number of lead-out training sessions for our sprinters and rode on the time trial bike."
This Wednesday, part of the team will be at the start of the Umag Trophy, followed by the Porec Trophy and the Istrian Spring Tour, while another part will be in France participating in Le Tour des 100 communes and the GP Lillers. What are the objectives for the coming season?
"Our starting point is that we want to ensure that we prepare our riders as well as possible so that they can be of value to our WorldTeam in a few years' time. Development is always the most important. We don’t say in advance: we want to win this many races. That's less important. If the development goes well, we will automatically win somewhere.
Of course, there are a number of highlights in the season where we want the riders to show what they can do. Think of the Tour de l'Avenir, the Giro Next Gen, Paris Roubaix, La Flèche Ardennaise, Tour de Bretagne and the three Italian classics. These are important races for their development. During these kinds of races, they have to show whether they are eligible for a contract extension or the step up to the WorldTour."