In the peloton since 1996

Sponsor: Dutch banking group
Budget: $3.7 million
Manager: Jan Raas
Directeur sportif: Théo de Rooy
Assistants: Adri Van Houwelingen, Joop Zoetemelk

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RidersBOOGERD Michael  (Nl),  May 28, 1972
DE GROOT Bram   (Nl),  December 18, 1974
DEKKER Erik   (Nl),  August 21, 1970
ENGELS Addy   (Nl),  June 16, 1977
KROON Karsten   (Nl),  January 29, 1976
LEIPHEIMER Levi   (USA),   October 24, 1973
NIERMANN Grischa  (G),  November 3, 1975
WAUTERS Marc   (B),  February 23, 1969
ZBERG Beat    (Swi),  May 10, 1971

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Levi in the mix
While this Dutch squad is building toward the future with a numberof young riders, its 2002 Tour team will again rely on the old guard —plus its major new signing, Levi Leipheimer. The team’s plans for the yeartook a hit in the spring when Erik Dekker fractured a leg at Milan-SanRemo as he began the defense of his 2001 World Cup title. With Dekker onthe sidelines, and likely to be short of racing when the Tour starts, Rabobankhas been relying on Michael Boogerd and Markus Zberg to get results. Onething is sure: The orange jerseys will again be at the front of the pelotoncome Tour time. With the Zberg brothers and the reinforcement of Leipheimer,the Rabobank riders can expect to have a great Tour.TEAM WINS2001
B. ZBERG: Vuelta a España, one stage.
DEKKER: UCI World Cup champion; Tour de France, one stage; AmstelGold Race; Golden Spurs Two-day; Ruta del Sol; Tour of the Netherlands,one stage.
WAUTERS: Tour de France, one stage.
HAYMAN: Majorca Challenge.
BOOGERD: Majorca Challenge, one stage; Tirreno-Adriatico, onestage; Setmana Catalana; Flèche Brabançonne.
M. ZBERG: Tirreno-Adriatico, one stage; Rund um den HenningerTurm.
NIERMANN: Tour of Lower Saxony.
VERHEYEN: Luk Cup.2002
DEKKER: Majorca Challenge, one stage; Ruta del Sol, one stage;Tirreno-Adriatico, overall and one stage; Golden Spurs Two-day, overalland one stage.
BOERMAN: Golden Spurs Two-day, one stage.
B. ZBERG: Tour of the Basque Country, one stage.
TRAKSEL: Veenendaal-Veenendaal.
LEIPHEIMER: Route du Sud, overall and one stage.
 INTERVIEW
Théo De Rooy, directeur sportif :
"We are counting once again on our Tour specialists Erik Dekker andMichael Boogerd. They will have to pull off something big in the firstpart of this Tour in the north of France. Certainly not all of the openingstages will finish in a sprint, so we will have to be vigilant, but we’dlike to win something as soon as possible. Then we can go for the GC. Lastyear Boogerd finished 10th overall, which is a very honorable place. Thisyear we are going to try to do better. Boogerd, but also Leipheimer andthe Zberg brothers, may have their chance. I think that this year, to achievea good Tour, it’s important not to expend too much energy in the firsthalf of the race. It won’t be easy deciding when to make a major move becausethe course gets tougher every day. So between pacing your efforts and stayingin contact with the best riders, I think it will be a real headache. Butthat’s what makes the Tour de France such a challenging event."