Sam Oomen focuses on Ardennes’ classics: “My Best Rides”
Sat Jan 23, 2021 11:18 am
Sam Oomen will be playing his first match for Jumbo-Visma in a week and a half. The Valencia Tour will be the first race of the 25-year-old climber, who has come from Sun Webb this winter. This season focuses on the classics of Ardennes and later on Vuelta a España.
Omen said through his new team that he is very happy that he is now in Jumbo-Visma. “I feel very welcome and have already met many acquaintances. I am glad that I have taken this step in my career. At the same time, I have been in the Sunweb team for five years and have good memories of it. It was not easy to bid farewell to the people I really love. So in Sometimes I have mixed feelings, but overall I’m glad I made this step. “
The Dutch climber has had a few difficult years filled with injuries. Although the pelvic artery was narrowed, it started in gyro in 2019. “I went there in the dispatch role for Tom Dumoulin and maybe I could just do my thing. However, things went a little differently. After the fall, Tom had to come home a few days later. I also fell after two weeks, and broke a bone in my thigh. All together, the time I spent outside the bike was longer than ever. It was so intense. ”
After gyro he underwent surgery on a narrowed pelvic artery. “The most important thing is that fortunately I no longer have the feeling of paralysis that I felt before the operation,” he says now, after two seasons. “Still a weakness, but the injury has likely developed over a longer period of time, so it takes a long time to recover completely. It’s not really helpful that I haven’t been able to race much in 2019 and 2020, because that’s what I need. So I hope.” 2021 will be a normal season. “
Arden Classics
On Wednesday 3 February, he usually starts his first Jumbo-Visma race, the Valencia Tour. “Then I’ll drive Paris – Nice. I’m running through the Basque Country Tour to the Ardennes classics. I’m so happy I’m going to ride it, because I prefer to do these races in the entire calendar. Then the focus shifts to the second part of the season with Tour de Suisse and Vuelta a España.” I’ve also learned in the past two years that a lot can happen. So I’m a little cautious, but that’s what the plan looks like now. “
“When is my season successful? I always find such questions difficult. Of course I would be happy to be in the top ten in a Grand Tour or to win a stage somewhere. If I can get a win or provide good assistance to our leaders, that would be great. But when I look I would be happy to be in the top ten. To everything from a bigger perspective, when I feel like I can take a step again after two weird years, when I can do a lot of finals and have full confidence in my body again, and then things come naturally. I’m really looking forward to that. “
a program 
Sam Omen for the year 2021
Tour in Valencia
Paris Nice Tour of the Basque Country
Arden Classics
Tour of Switzerland Return to Spain
