Julius van den Berg on racing with Fabio Jakobsen: "The goal is to win this year and we are going for that"

Anyone who knows the background of Julius van den Berg and Fabio Jakobsen or has even read the book written by Menno Haanstra knows that the transition of both gentlemen to DSM company PostNL has a sentimental background. Van den Berg spoke about this to In de Leiderstrui.

"During the first conversations I sometimes mentioned his name, because he is really quite an underrated rider," Jakobsen said earlier about his friend. "He comes across as a kind of loose guy who is very relaxed, but he really has a motor in him. And he gets better as the kilometers he races. After the summer a spot became available and I talked to Roy Curvers about it, so I let them know how I see it. I dared to put my hand in the fire for that."

What is Van den Berg thinking of the possibility now few months later? "It's just nice that you can cycle, train and compete with a friend. And then there's the fact that that friend is one of the best sprinters of the moment. That makes it all extra fun. The goal is to win this year and we are going for that."

"There are of course also quite a lot of good riders who do not have a contract at all for next year. So maybe I'm lucky. But I feel like I had one of my best years ever last season. That may not have been reflected in the results, but I felt that I had really taken a step. But I don't think many people saw that, and that was quite a blow. But fortunately I can now show that here again."