Dutchman Marc de Maar (Rabobank) will be joining Floyd Landis at Team Ouch next season. Rabobank didn’t offer the 25 year old a contract extension after he had two unlucky seasons that included a broken elbow last year and mononucleosis this season.
De Maar hopes the move to America, the land of opportunity, will let him enjoy cycling once again. “I slowly began to lose all pleasure in cycling. I want to restart in America. My main goals are Tour of California, Tour of Georgia, the Dutch Championships, and the Tour of Missouri,” he wrote on his personal site.
“For many people this is a surprising decision, but at Rabobank I reached a dead-end.”
De Maar started his professional career in 2005 after one year with Rabobank Continental. In 2004 he won the classic Hasselt-Spa-Hasselt and two stages in Olympia’s Tour the following year.
“Especially Adri van Houwelingen put a lot of time and energy in Marc. Unfortunately Marc couldn’t fulfill the expectations, partly because of injuries and sickness,” explained General manager Harold Knebel to RaboSport.
Kai Reus (Rabobank), recent winner of a stage in Tour of Britain, reached an agreement with Knebel Tuesday morning and has extended his contract by one year, despite interest from Garmin-Slipstream.
The 24 year old has had a long recovery since his life threatening crash that put him in a coma for a week. After a year with Rabobank Continental in 2008 he stepped up to the Pro-Tour team this year, which saw him end on a high note with his success in Britain.