At the Tour of Oman, Team DSM put on an agressive display all throughout the six days of racing, and with a very young lineup they propelled Henri Vandenabeele and Kevin Vermaerke into a strong performance in the mountains. The latter has spoken about his ambitions in the coming spring.
“My climbing performance I’ve been pretty happy with. I’m not a pure climber but I think with the level of field that’s here, I can hold my own," he said during the recent race in the Middle East. “This winter I really noticed a big step up. It helps with my confidence a lot. Finally setting more PRs and feeling really good on the bike makes a big difference.”
Vermaerke continued, “I don’t know if I’d put a certain result as a goal, but I think, personally, I know I can be there in the final and if I can be there in the last 30-20km in front of the race and playing a part in the race instead of just being in the race that would be my goal."
The 21-year old American is a product of the Hagens Berman Axeon Team and as many of his former teammates, he's done the jump to World Tour ranks after delivering very promising results at an under-23 level, including a win in the U23 Liège - Bastogne - Liège.
“If it’s a top-10 or top-20, or maybe a late move goes up and I can get ahead of the race and then have the top guys come up to me that would be ideal, but we’ll see how it goes. I know if I’m at 100 percent and I have my best race I can be up there and that’s what I’m hoping for," he completed.
Vermaerke's calendar is still to be decided, however he is scheduled to be at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad where he will be doing his first one-day race of the season.
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