Paris-Tours: Bad luck for Rabo ProTeam in fall classic

According to team manager Erik Dekker (picture), the Rabo ProTeam had not done anything wrong, but had not gained anything either. The Rabo team did not play a strong role in the finale, even though everyone rode well and was strong. Oscar Freire was most visible, but when the decisive escape of four riders had taken place, there were no Rabo riders on it. Philippe Gilbert was the only one from the pack who was able to join them. His team mate Delage was already on the lead group and turned out to be the perfect pacemaker for Gilbert, who concluded the season with a nice victory as a result. That is also why Dekker could accept this combative winner.

Erik Dekker could perfectly explain everything that had gone wrong. "Bram de Groot had been in the front of the pack all day, so we could not expect him in the finale. There was a crash that involved Jos van Emden after that. Flens, De Groot, and De Maar were behind this, unfortunately, and we only had the three Spaniards and Löwik in front. And it was hard to control with only four riders, especially because Löwik fell again after that. I do not have a bad feeling after this race, but I do not feel good about it either. So at the moment I have no feelings about this race."

It turned out that Jos van Emden and Gerben Löwik got out of their crashes relatively unscathed. Erik Dekker felt especially bad for Löwik. "He is on the ground again in the last race of the season and his last race for the Rabo team. And that at a time when he wanted to show himself, to show he can indeed ride very fast. And he also did that when the finale started, but then he is on the ground again. Really upsetting that he ends his last race for us like that, he did not deserve that."

This was the last race of the year for six of the eight riders. And Erik Dekker can also close the door on his season. "All in all the team has had a good season. Oscar won Gent-Wevelgem and the green jersey in the Tour de France. We are constantly involved in the finales during the spring and we were in the front in the major tours with Denis Menchov and Robert Gesink. Unfortunately we were unable to translate this into a lot of victories, but we showed ourselves well. And the young riders showed themselves too. But behind the scenes we are already working on the new season. That just goes on!"