Rudi Kemna believes there is untapped sprinting potential within Emils Liepins: "We think he is undervalued

Last Monday, Team DSM-firmenich PostNL held official press release ahead of the new season. Sports director Rudi Kemna tells WielerFlits that the Dutch WorldTeam hopes to find a new finisher in Latvian champion Emils Liepins. In WielerFlits Podcast, this is discussed thoroughly.

Normally, you'd expect Fabio Jakobsen to be team's first sprinter followed by the young Casper van Uden in the hierarchy. "We are not talking about a first or second sprinter. Don't forget Emils Liepins. Most people won't see him as a sprinter, but we actually do. Marcel Kittel was also once offered to us as a time trialist. But with the values he had, there had to be more to it. We now also have that feeling at Emils," thinks Kemna.

"We think he is undervalued and used differently than possible. We also discussed that a lot with him. Not that he will just become our first sprinter. But we think he has considerable potential. And that we can also work with that. What happened to Pavel Bittner? A different approach. He is mainly someone with a good jump, a good punch. He will definitely be in the lead out, but also in the classic core."

Maxim Youri of WielerFlits Podcast is not of the same opinion. "With all due respect, this guy is 31 years old. Ten years older than when Kittel joined the team. How are you going to explain to me that this is now a finisher? I am very critical, I must say. If people from DSM are listening, I have nothing against that team. But that Liepins story made me think: 'Come on, guys. That's impossible?'. I hereby also challenge the team: blow me off my chair."