Sunweb looks for new beginning

The young Sunweb-Projob team held a family-day in August, and the two Directeur Sportif's from the team talked about their first season in cyclo-cross on the team's website. "The organization was perfect right from the start. If you see that every rider had their mobile home then you know we did a fine job," Hans De Clercq talked about the team's organization.

His colleague Mario De Clercq - former cyclo-cross world champion but no relation - explained that the sportive side wasn't as good as expected. "The start of our team was less spectacular. Our team leaders were not doing well in January and February. We know the reason for that with Sven Vanthourenhout and with Tom Vannoppen we knew he had a bad end of the year 2006," Mario De Clercq explained.

After a troublesome first season the pair explained the team is starting for real this season. "Riders had to adapt to the new bike while we didn't have any influence on their preparation for the season. That's all different now and I'm counting on victory in a big race this season, that means a win in the World Cup, GvA or Superprestige Series," Hans De Clercq expressed his hope for the team's first big win.

"Jonathan Page joined our team in July and David Willemsens is now focusing 100% on cyclo-cross. Together with Jan Verstraeten that means we have now a block of five riders at the start," Mario De Clercq marked the improved strength of the Belgian team.