UCI code ROO Founded 2015 (2015) Bicycles Isaac | Registered The Netherlands Discipline Road | |
Status UCI Professional Continental | ||
Team Roompot–Nederlandse Loterij (UCI team code: ROP) is a Dutch UCI Professional Continental men's cycling team. The team's principal sponsor is Roompot Vakanties, a Dutch holiday company. The team's first season was the 2015cycling season, during which the team was invited to participate in UCI World Tour races including the 2015 Eneco Tour and the 2015 Tour of Flanders, as well as various other spring classics races. The team has only hired Dutch cyclists, the most prominent of whom is Johnny Hoogerland. Roompot's debut race was the 2015 Vuelta a Mallorca stage race. The team's first win came in August 2015 in the Tour du Limousin, where Maurits Lammertink won a bunch sprint.
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History
Roompot's beginnings came in the spring of 2014, when Erik Breukink, who was formerly the manager of the Dutch team Rabobank, announced that he was seeking to create a new Dutch squad to ride at the UCI Professional Continental level. There were Dutch teams riding at UCI World Tour and UCI Continental levels, but none in the middle tier of professional cycling. Breukink announced his hope that the team would support the development of young Dutch riders. Other people involved in the development of the team included Michael Boogerd, Jean-Paul van Poppel and Michael Zijlaard.
While the team was under development, it was known as Orange Cycling in reference to the national colour of the Netherlands. The team sought sponsorship from several companies, but most prominently from Roompot Vakanties. Another Dutch team, WorldTour team Belkin Pro Cycling, were also seeking a new title sponsor and were seen as in direct competition with Orange Cycling for the Roompot sponsorship.
On 13 August 2014, it was announced that Roompot had decided to sponsor the Orange Cycling project, apparently in part because the intention only to sign Dutch riders matched Roompot's marketing strategy. The following day, the team announced its first rider, Johnny Hoogerland, who had previously ridden for another Dutch team, Vacansoleil–DCM.
The team was launched on 2 January 2015, at the Six Days of Rotterdam. The launch gave prominence to the squad's Dutch identity, including the return of orange cycling jerseys, traditionally the colour of the Rabobank team. Breukink announced that the team would race for the first time at the Vuelta a Mallorca, and was considering the possibility of applying to participate in the 2015 Vuelta a España.
The team made its debut at the 2015 Trofeo Santanyi-Ses Salines-Campos, part of the Vuelta a Mallorca. Raymond Kreder finished in sixth place. He also took the team's next top 10 result: ninth place in the 2015 Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne. Kreder finished in third place on the final stage of the 2015 Volta ao Algarve, but he was relegated to the back of the group for improper sprinting.
Roompot's first top-ten results of the spring classics season came in Drenthe, with fourth place for Jesper Asselman in the Ronde van Drenthe and ninth place for Wesley Kreder the following day in the Dwars door Drenthe. Andre Looij also finished fourth in the Handzame Classic.
In the 2015 Eneco Tour, Asselman spent two days in the breakaway and picked up bonus seconds that put him in the race lead. This was the first time that any Roompot rider had led any UCI-ranked race. The following week, the team won its first ever victory: Maurits Lammertink won a bunch sprint on the final stage of the Tour du Limousin. This was followed the same day by the team's second victory through Dylan Groenewegen in the Arnhem-Veenendaal Classic.
For the 2016 season, Roompot signed Pieter Weening from Orica–GreenEDGE, a rider who had won three grand tour stages in the past. He attributed his decision to sign for the team to its Dutch identity; it was also suggested that the team may receive a wildcard entry for the 2016 Giro d'Italia, which starts in the Netherlands.