Garmin-Sharp's Martijn Maaskant and Tyler Farrar are joined by former teammate Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) to recon the Haaghoek pave sector.(Image credit: Photopress.be)
The Netherland's Martijn Maaskant (Garmin - Slipstream)(Image credit: Gregor Brown)
Leif Hoste (Silence-Lotto) leads the chase, but gets no help from Stuart O'Grady (CSC) or a well hidden Stijn Devolder, and will lose fourth place to Martijn Maaskant (Slipstream Chipotle - H3O).(Image credit: Florian & Susanne Schaaf/cyclingpictures.de)
Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream) gets a wheel from his teammate Martijn Maaskant after crashing on stage 11. (Image credit: AFP Photo)
UnitedHealthcare team manager Mike Tamayo has confirmed to Cyclingnews that Martijn Maaskant has signed with the team, as was reported by multiple Dutch and Flemish news agencies. The rumour mills have been working overtime recently with speculation about the future of the 30-year-old Dutchman, with many people believing he may even make the step down to UCI Continental level.
Maaskant began his cycling career in earnest in 2004 with the UCI Continental ranked Van Vliet-EBH Advocaten team amongst current WorldTour riders Dirk Bellemakers (Lotto Belisol) and Sebastian Langeveld (Orica GreenEdge). In late 2005 he signed on for the Rabobank Continental team where he spent two years. An overall win in the Tour of Normandie in 2007, amongst other results, was enough to secure a contract with Jonathan Vaughters' Garmin team and Maaskant was WorldTour bound.
Maaskant rose to prominence in 2008 in his neo-pro year with a stunning fourth place in Paris - Roubaix. The following year he confirmed this promise with a strong fourth place in the Tour of Flanders, but since then Maaskant has been consistent but struggled for breakthrough results.
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