Due to various circumstances, Robert Gesink and Laurens ten Dam missed this spring a large period of the cycling season. Gesink struggled with personal problems, knee problems and disease. Ten Dam was first ill in the Ruta del Sol and then broke four ribs in the Tour of Catalonia. Coach Louis Delahaye expects the pair to find their form ahead of their big goals for the season.

For the LottoNL-Jumbo riders, the Tour de France is the main goal of the season. Both riders will be in the Tour de Romandie for their comeback in the peloton.

With Gesink, Delahaye has a dream plan. "If successful, everything is perfect," said the high performance director of the Dutch team to NU.nl. "It's not a serious knee injury, but he had always suffered from." Last week the rider in Holland, has started to train longer (four to five hours). "That's good, though we build form carefully."

The coach does not think dropping Gesink for the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco and the Ardennes Classics affect the upcoming Tour de France. "There's still so much time between now and the Tour with many moments in between."

Ten Dam

Delahaye expects Ten Dam can make his comeback in the Tour de Romandie after his broken ribs. "Broken ribs are always a painful story. That's one of the few parts of your body that you cannot turn off."