Daan Olivier leading the peloton during the 2015 season before he retired from the sport (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Daan Olivier will make a return to racing in the professional peloton next year with LottoNL-Jumbo having initially retired from the sport last July. The 23-year-old turned professional with Giant-Alpecin in 2014 and will continue his career with a two-year contract.
Oliver made his first racing appearance since the 2015 Volta a Catalunya at last month's UCI 2.2 Ronde van Midden Nederland with the WV De Jonge Renner squad to mark the start of his comeback.
Explaining his return to the top level of the sport, Oliver stated that he rekindled his love for the sport during the last year and was keen to being racing again.
"It has always been my dream to race for the Dutch professional team. After a pleasant conversation with the team, I immediately knew that it was good. Team LottoNL-Jumbo supports me with training and coaching. I get the time to develop myself as an athlete, and also as a person," Oliver said.
"I had lost the balance between training and relaxation. A year after I decided to stop, my desire to be a professional rider returned. Fun is the most important thing for me and I found it back on the bike."
LottoNL-Jumbo sports director Nico Verhoeven explained that the addition of Oliver to the roster is certainly one from left-field but added that couldn't pass up the opportunity to sign the climbing talent.
"Daan Olivier stopping was a surprising move, and it's certainly unique that he has started again. We found that his motivation is back, and the talent that he has not vanished," Verhoeven said. "Daan Olivier is good uphill and as a pro, he already showed good things. Together we want to help him finding his way to the top again and we have to take time to do so. An important stage in his development has been the rediscovery of fun."
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During his first stint in the WorldTour, Oliver's best results were eight overall and the young rider classification at the 2014 Vuelta a Burgos and 15th overall at the Tour of California.
Oliver joins Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar), Lars Boom (Astana), Antwan Tolhoek (Roompot Oranje Peloton), Jurgen Van den Broeck (Katusha), Floris De Tier (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise), Stef Clement (IAM Cycling) as the announced signings for LottoNL-Jumbo from the 2017 season thus far.
