"The team is changing and my career is too short to leave anything behind" - Sam Oomen heads to Lidl-Trek after three years with Jumbo-Visma

Sam Oomen finished ninth in the Giro d'Italia in 2018 while supporting Tom Dumoulin. That was five years ago now, when a big future was expected for then 23-year-old Dutchman. However things didn't go as planned and Oomen had to settle for a rather humble role at Jumbo-Visma, coming to the team in 2021. Moving to Lidl-Trek next year, Oomen hopes to shine again, re-uniting with his friend Tao Geoghegan Hart.

"Sam's name did come up from Tao's side when we were talking to him. Sam's contract expired and we were looking for that type of rider, so it came together well," says Steven de Jongh, sports director at Lidl-Trek, in conversation with In de Leiderstrui.

In de Leiderstrui asked Oomen where did the decision to move from Jumbo-Visma come from. "We both had the feeling that it was good to go to another team. That felt somewhat contradictory to me, because Jumbo-Visma is a very family team, with many familiar faces from the Rabobank days. But the team is changing and my career is too short to leave anything behind. I would have regretted that."

What is it like to link up with Hart? "That's really nice. It's hard to explain, but I've known him since I was a junior, when we were 17 or 18 years old. We always rode against each other, but we also chatted sometimes. Sometimes these suddenly became very good conversations, also off the bike. Then you know: we understood each other. That's a lot of fun, but it's different when you're teammates."