Holm turns down Luxembourg team to stay with HTC-Columbia

Brian Holm has changed his mind and will stay as a directeur sportif with HTC-Columbia. Earlier this month he had accepted a job at the new Luxembourg team, but this week decided his personal ties to the US-based team were strong enough to hold him there.

“I had said yes to switch to the Luxembourg team,” he told the Danish website Ekstrabladet.dk. “I felt the time was ripe to try something new, and Kim Andersen and Brian Nygaard have started a project that really appeals to me.”

At that point, HTC-Columbia Senior Sports Director and former teammate Rolf Aldag stepped into the picture. “We had a long talk about this long journey we've been on together and the enormous challenges we have overcome together.”

Holm rode for Team Telekom from 1993 to 1997 and was a Directeur Sportif with Team T-Mobile from 2004 to 2007, and with the current HTC-Columbia set-up from 2007 until now. Aldag rode for Telekom from 1993 to 2005 and has been in team management with T-Mobile and HTC-Columbia since then.

“When It became clear to me how many close relationships I have with Aldag, Erik Zabel and Mark Cavendish, then leaving Columbia would be like leaving a girlfriend. And I can't do that right now.

“I have always insisted that one should not commit themselves personally to people in this industry, but I have done that. I have acted more with my heart than my brain in this case,” the 47-year-old said.

“I had probably underestimated the strength of the personal relationships I have built at Columbia in recent years. I cannot have it better than I have it at Columbia.”

Holm told Andersen and Nygaard on Wednesday morning that he would not be joining them, a move which he also regrets to a certain extent.

“I've always wanted to work with Kim Andersen, who is probably the world's best sports director."