Australian sprinter to stay with Dutch team
Australian Graeme Brown has signed with the Rabobank team for an additional year, which will take his term through the 2011 season. Brown has been with the Dutch team for five seasons, and has managed to secure wins for the team each year.
The 31 year old had a difficult time sprinting to his first victory in 2010. He racked up six second and two third place finishes before finally taking victory in a stage of the Tour of Austria last week. That win marked his fourteenth victory for the Dutch squad, excluding his successes in the Jayco Bay Classic.
Brown got his start riding on the track, picking up the U19 Team Pursuit World Title in 1997, and then the Team Pursuit World Title in 2003. His biggest success has been at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens where was part of the Australian Olympic Team Pursuit gold medal team and also secured the gold in the Madison with Stuart O’Grady.
The following year, he had his most impressive run of form when he took five stage wins and the points classification in the Tour de Langkawi. Unsurprisingly, that earned him the points jersey.
He often performs well at the start of the year, building strong form when back at home in Australia during the European off-season. His Tour of Austria stage victory shows that his current condition is good, and he’ll aim to land more decent results in the months ahead.