Rabobank is planning to add an off-road team to its current road operation. The plan is to have a mountain bike team as well as a cyclocross section.
Richard Groenendaal is the natural choice to be a directeur sportif, along with Leo van Zeeland, according to Omproep Brabant. The idea is to give a new impulse to mountain biking and cyclocrossing in the Netherlands.
Groenendaal is currently directeur sportif for AA-Drink and still pondering the offer. Groenendaal was a very successful cyclocross racer, who won a national title almost every year since 1987, when he took the beginner’s category at age 15. He also became the junior world champion in 1989 and elite world champion in 2000. If that isn’t enough he also won several Dutch mountain bike nationals. He raced for Rabobank from 1996 to 2007.
Van Zeeland used to be the national coach for the Dutch mountain biking team and has signaled his interest for the position. Both expect the team to be presented to the public fairly soon.
Bart Brentjens, former mountain bike professional, is also interested, but was not contacted by the team. He then got in touch with Rabobank himself, but it seems there is no interest in Brentjens.