Hilaire van der Schueren is not the most popular directeur sportif in the professional peloton, but he won a lot of great races during his long career as DS. The Belgian has been directing professional teams for many years. He started in 1985 with Kwantum Hallen and managed a lot of pro riders. Currently at the Tour de Romandie, he was interviewed by CyclingQuotes about his career and his Wanty-Groupe Gobert team.

In 2016 the Belgian team has won only one victory: Amstel Gold Race with Italian Enrico Gasparotto. But it is certainly a great and emotional moment, some days after Antoine Demoitie's death. The Belgian cyclist died after a terrible crash in Ghent-Wevelgem. "After the tragic event all riders hoped to win a race. This victory is a reward for the whole team and staff. They worked hard to win this race. A WorldTour race for a Pro-Continental team is fantastic. It is certainly an important moment for my team. I would like to thank the entire team", he explained. "This is not my most beautiful win of my career because I won a lot of monuments, but we could won this race while we ran through a hard time. For that, we can say that this is a great victory"

Enrico Gasparotto won his second Amstel Gold Race (2012 and 2016). He will be free at the end of this season, but van der Schueren confirmed to CyclingQuotes that he will wear the Wanty-Groupe Gobert jersey in 2017: "Sure, he will still be in the team next season."

This season, we will not have the possibiliity to see Hilaire van der Schueren in the car behind the peloton in a three-week race. Indeed, his team did not receive a wild card. He knew the same situation with Vacansoleil in 2010. Even if he had hired Feillu brothers, the Dutch team was not selected for the Tour de France which started in the Netherlands.

The Belgian DS understood the choice of Grand Tour organisers, but he criticized the absence of rules. "It's normal that the organizers of the Tour de France first choose French teams, ditto for the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. But I regret that there are no rules dictated by UCI. We need to have sporting criteria. We need more transparence."

Wanty-Groupe Gobert will be present at the start of the Critérium du Dauphiné. "It's an important step in the development of the team", van der Schueren added. "It's a honour for all riders and our sponsors. We will have a fantastic chance for them to compete against the biggest riders in the world. This year, we will race Critérium du Dauphiné, and I'm sur that we will in action at the 2017 Tour de France."

Van der Schueren hopes to have more chance and less riders in the infirmary for the next races: "Since the start of the season, we have a lot of injured riders. We hope to stop it in order to have the possibility to play the best cards."