Sam Oomen will enter the second year of his contract with Jumbo-Visma in 2022 and he hopes to take some steps again. After 2021, in which he mainly served as a servant to his leaders, the Dutchman hopes to pursue his chance again in 2022.
The 26-year-old Oomen came from Team Sunweb in 2021, active from 2016 to 2020. His most notable result was a ninth place finish in the 2018 Giro d’Italia, with teammate Tom Dumoulin finishing second. In Jumbo-Visma, Oomen is reunited with his former leader. However, after a break from Dumoulin, they met for the first time only on the Tour of Switzerland. That was the round where Omen played himself as the leader for the first time and he loved it. I rode in the Sun Web good ratings, but not as the only leader. I didn’t actually do that much. This year in Switzerland and I’m proud of that. I was ranked 8th as a leader, so that actually worked out really well.
Two months into the Tour of Switzerland, the young Dutchman was at the start of the Vuelta a España, where he had to help leader Primoz Roglic on his way to the ultimate victory. Omen himself finished 18th, but was able to learn a lot from his Slovenian leader, who eventually claimed the rankings by four minutes ahead of Enrique Mas. Dutch late audio notation by red lantern I know he will learn a lot from Roglic for the future captain. “I took a good look at Primoz, also because I find him an amazing guy as a person.”
Omen wants to race more in 2022, especially in smaller competitions
For now, it appears Omen will have to look for his chances as a captain in the smaller matches of the week. On the big rides, riders like Roglic, Dumoulin, Stephen Kruesvik and Jonas Weinggaard seem to have an advantage at the moment. “I want to finish matches where I get a chance with a very good result. This year it was in Switzerland, and next year I hope to do it two or three times. I don’t know yet what I’m riding, but what I really benefit from is just racing. I can’t. I have to train for that.Next year I hope there will be a little bit smaller competitions in preparation for a bigger competition.
According to the Dutchman, it doesn’t always matter that Oomen has not yet driven the values that are probably necessary to perform at the highest level. Buk Mollema cites as an example, who already has a track record to his name. “Bock is a great racer in this respect. He has the values of an outstanding driver, but not like the Pogacar, who drives much higher values. However, Blombardy will win, because he only knows one hundred percent what he can do and is so full of confidence in himself.
