Moreno Hofland leads Team LottoNL-Jumbo on Sunday, June 28th, in a bid for the Dutch national road race title in Emmen. With the support of his teammates, the 23-year old sprinter wants to bring home the red, white and blue champion’s jersey.
“I’m going to try and save as much energy during the race for a possible sprint,” Hofland looked ahead. The Dutch youngster knows that these tactics can also be beneficial for his teammates. “It gives them the chance to do something. The most important thing is that the team wins the race.”
Hofland, who became national champion at the under-23 level, knows what it's like to ride a championship and win.
“That might be an advantage, but everyone starts at zero on Sunday. A national road race is always special. Anything can happen.”
Sports Director Erik Dekker knows a rider won’t win the red-white-blue jersey without suffering.
“The course is flat and not very difficult, but the race is 260 kilometres long. Rain, wind and the temperature are all factors that can affect the race. You never become champion by accident.”
Dekker expects a big battle in Emmen.
“The competition always looks to us, but this year that might be slightly different. We don’t have the fastest sprinter by far. We have a sprinter who is able to compete with the other sprinters. With Roompot, there’s a new strong opponent in terms of quality and quantity. The riders of the foreign teams are very strong as well.”
Ken Vanmarcke will guide the Belgian riders of Team LottoNL-Jumbo during the Belgian road race in Tervuren, where Tom Van Asbroeck, Sep Vanmarcke and Maarten Wynants are the team’s riders. Paul Martens and Robert Wagner will take part in the German championship.
First, the Dutch national time trial championship is scheduled on Wednesday, June 24th, also in Emmen. Mathieu Heijboer and Louis Delahaije accompany the participating riders of Team LottoNL-Jumbo.
“The distance of the race is unusually long this year,” Heijboer said about the 54-kilometre course. “All our riders start with ambition, but especially Martijn Keizer. He’s in good shape and, besides that, the national championships are held very close to his home. We’re not the favourites, however; Stef Clement and Tom Dumoulin are.”
Dutch road race team line-up:
Brian Bulgac, Laurens ten Dam, Jos van Emden, Rick Flens, Moreno Hofland, Martijn Keizer, Steven Kruijswijk, Tom Leezer, Bert-Jan Lindeman, Nick van der Lijke, Barry Markus, Timo Roosen, Bram Tankink, Mike Teunissen, Maarten Tjallingii & Dennis van Winden.
Dutch road race Sports Directors:
Jan Boven and Erik Dekker
Dutch TT line-up:
Jos van Emden, Rick Flens, Martijn Keizer, Wilco Kelderman & Maarten Tjallingii
Dutch TT Sports Directors:
Louis Delahaije and Mathieu Heijboer
Belgian road race team line-up:
Tom Van Asbroeck, Sep Vanmarcke and Maarten Wynants
Belgian road race Sports Directors:
Ken Vanmarcke
German road race team line-up:
Paul Martens and Robert Wagner
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