Unnamed team makes offer to Dutch talent
Continuing the buildup in his return to pro cycling, former world junior champion Kai Reus has confirmed that he will once again compete with a high level team in 2012. The 26 year old returned to the sport in June, almost a year after he announced that he was walking away, and has been racing with the De Rijke continental team.
Reus told TV Noord-Holland Sport yesterday that he had an offer for next season, although he isn’t ready to name them as yet. “It’s a nice offer, but unfortunately I cannot say which team it is. The old Kai Reus is still there and I will go for it one hundred percent.”
The Dutchman showed his promise when he took the junior world title in 2003. In 2006 he won the Under 23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, then turned pro with the Rabobank team the following season.
After a solid start, the first big setback of his career happened on July 12th of that year when he crashed while training in the Alps, suffered head injuries and was in a coma for several days. He returned to racing over a year later in the 2008 Tour of Missouri, then won stage two of the 2009 Tour of Britain and held yellow for several days. He finished fourth overall and seemed to be back on track.
However he suffered mononucleosis and was forced to stop racing until May 2010. Despite finishing 35th in the Tour of Belgium, he cracked and announced that he was leaving the sport indefinitely. Fortunately, a period of time spent speed stating refreshed his mind and he decided to come back to cycling.
Reus spoke to VeloNation in June and said that he was determined to work hard. “The results are not so important for me right now. I will try to build good condition for next year, for 2012,” he said.
He returned in the Dutch time trial championships and finished a very solid 13th out of 40 riders. In August Reus won stage one of the Tour de Mi Aout en Bretagne, showing that his comeback is progressing well.
Confirmation of Reus’ new team is likely to come soon. He told VeloNation in June that he had remained in contact with the Rabobank team, with whom he has a long history. If he were to return there it would seem a natural fit, given that they already know him, his abilities and his potential.