They already train together. Round trips through Noord-Holland with a group that calls itself Noord-Hollands Best. Head over head through the polder, coffee and cake en route and sprinting at every place name sign. They will also be teammates next season: according to our information, Cees Bol and Ramon Sinkeldam will both make the switch to the same French team.
That team is led by former professional Jerome Pineau and is now called B&B Hotels-KTM. It is a team that plays in the ProContinental division; in the last Tour de France they didn’t get much further than a few distant places of honour, but in the coming years things will have to change completely.
Pineau has found a new lender – allegedly the city of Paris – and has big plans. The team is still mainly French, but needs to become a lot more international. Substantial investments are being made in better equipment and frameworks, and discussions are taking place with countless riders from different countries.
Bol (27) and Sinkeldam (33) must ensure success in the sprints. Sinkeldam as attractor, Bol as finisher. Former national champion Sinkeldam had already been in French service in that role in recent years: he attracted sprints for Arnaud Demare at Groupama-FDJ. In the last Giro d’Italia, for example, he was partly responsible for Demare’s three stage victories.
Bol comes over from Team DSM. In recent years, he sprinted there to a stage win in Paris-Nice and the win in Nokere-Koerse. He was also close to a stage win in the Tour on a number of occasions.
