After Italian U23 champion Francesco Busatto, Dutchman Roel van Sintmaartensdijk is the second rider of Circus-ReUz-Technord to join the professional peloton with Intermarché-Circus-Wanty for the next two seasons.
Just like Busatto, van Sintmaartensdijk combined the training and competition programmes of the Continental Development team and the World Team since the start of the winter. In this way the tall rider guided the sprint train of Gerben Thijssen on the way to the victory in the GP Monseré and the Ronde van Limburg.
With Circus-ReUz-Technord, van Sintmaartensdijk sprinted to the victory in Brussels-Opwijk, his first U23 race of the season, and to his first UCI win in the final stage of the Tour de Bretagne in May. He collected several good results in the most prestigious races of the U23 calendar such as Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (6th), Paris-Roubaix (12th) or the Giro Next Gen (7th in the opening time trial).
Next month, Roel van Sintmaartensdijk will represent the Dutch national team for the first time at the U23 World Championships, in the time trial (9th of August) and the road race (12th of August).
“Since my arrival in the team, I experienced many beautiful moments with Intermarché-Circus-Wanty and Circus-ReUz-Technord. I’m thinking of the victories of Gerben Thijssen with the World Team or my own victories for the Development Team. I have a good bond with all members of the structure. That’s why I am so enthusiastic about pursuing my career here.” “From the first days, I felt the confidence and received the opportunity to acquire experience alongside the pros, in training camps, performance activities and races. No matter the team, we benefit from the same professional support. Aike Visbeek, Kévin Van Melsen and my trainer Christophe Prémont established a personalised and well-planned programme. I started the season in the Volta ao Algarve alongside riders such as Rui Costa, from who I learned a lot, before winning my first race in the U23 category.” “In the next years I want to pursue my learning process and contribute as often as possible to the success of our team. I am lucky to continuously discover new things, like now at my first altitude camp with eight riders of the World Team. At the end of the month I will participate in the Sazka Tour. And thanks to my good first half of the season with the team I received the honour to be selected for the time trial and road race at the World Championships in Glasgow.”
"Roel van Sintmaartensdijk believed in our development project from the start. I'm pleased that we can reward his confidence with a pro contract. We noticed that he made a big step forward this winter thanks to our preparation programme. Experienced riders such as Rui Costa or Mike Teunissen were impressed by his performances in the Volta ao Algarve and immediately after, he confirmed with a victory in Brussels-Opwijk." "Within the World Team he showed his qualities in support of the team. With Circus-ReUz-Technord, he played the role of team captain and guided his teammates towards excellent results. Our goal in the next seasons is to extend his big engine with a certain number of World Tour races. Roel can be used in a large range of races. He will mainly play a role in the classics and in the sprint train. On the long term, I see him becoming an important element in the Grand Tours." "The progress of Francesco Busatto and Roel van Sintmaartensdijk shows that the approach of our development structure bears fruit. Our vision is to offer our young talents the possibility to acquire experience and to grow at their rhythm, in full confidence of the staff."
"Roel van Sintmaartensdijk deserves this step up to the World Team for several reasons. He started the season well and continuously shows progression. He obtained an excellent series of personal results but also played an important role as road captain with Circus-ReUz-Technord. He makes a priority of collective interests and guides our youngest riders in the peloton." "With Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, he showed that he has the capabilities to support his teammates in the finals, for example by positioning the sprint train. I continue to insist on the same message: the riders who always devote themselves to collective goals are invaluable within a World Team." "We managed to lift several young talents of Circus-ReUz-Technord to a higher level, with the support of the World Team. That's our goal. The development plan we established last winter for our most experienced riders, Francesco Busatto and Roel van Sintmaartensdijk, worked well and will be our guiding principle for our future talents."
