Despite apparent interest from foreign teams, Dennis van Winden has graduated from the Rabobank Under-23 development team to the full ProTour squad on a two-year contract. He is the second rider to make the step up to the full squad after Steven Kruijswijk signed recently.
“We want to give natural talent the time, the trust and the attention to develop itself, with Steven and now Dennis get we two racers from our own development team that have shown good potential”, said general manager Harold Knebel. “Our focus always lies with the intensive training of the riders, so that everyone’s talent comes to maturity.”
Van Winden is excited by the move: “This is a boys dream come true,” he said, “it’s really is the beginning of a new partnership, I am super motivated.”
The 21-year-old van Winden has had a number of notable results this season, with his biggest win coming in stage 9 of Tour de l’Avenir. He also became the Dutch under-23 time trial champion and came 11th in the World Under-23 Time Trial Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland last month.