Norwegian leaves Belkin to go back to British team
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Lars Petter Nordhaug (Belkin)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lars Petter Nordhaug (Belkin)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lars Petter NordHaug (Sky ProCycling) sprang clear from the final selection to take the win(Image credit: Peter Kraiker/studiofstop.com)
According to a report by Norwegian TV2 television channel, Lars Petter Nordhaug is set to leave the Belkin team at the end of the season and return to Team Sky in 2015.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, has reported that Wout Poels has also come to an agreement with Team Sky and will sign for the British team for 2015, with Nicolas Roche also expected to join the team from Tinkoff-Saxo. Bradley Wiggins is now expected to stay with Team Sky and possibly attempt the Hour Record in 2015 as he winds down his road career and target success on the track at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio.
Nordhaug rode for Team Sky between 2010 and 2012 but left for Belkin after winning the GP Cycliste de Montreal, the biggest win of his ten-year career. He recently won a stage and finished third overall at the Arctic Tour of Norway but has struggled to make an impact in the hilly Classics. He rode the 2013 Tour de France with Belkin but failed to secure a place for this year’s race, sparking reported tension with team management.
Team Sky has let Edvald Boasson Hagan leave the team and he will ride for MTN-Qhubeka in 2015. However the British team is keen to have Norwegian riders in its squad and somewhat regret losing Nordhaug in 2013.
"He is a good buddy of mine, and a type of rider that we need in the team," Norwegian directeur sportif Gabriel Rasch told TV2.
"I hope he continues on a positive trend and that we can manage him better in races so he takes the last step up from being a top-five rider to winning. He has the potential and physique in order to do it but sometimes he could do things differently."
Nordhaug went on the attack in the finale of Sunday GP Ouest France in Plouay but was caught and dropped by the break of seven riders that went on to fight to victory. He is set to ride the Tour of Britain or the GP Cycliste de Quebec and Montreal in Canada, before representing Norway at the world Road Race championships in Ponferrada, Spain.
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Nordhaug is the latest of several big-name riders to leave Belkin. The Dutch team will be known as De Lotto in 2015 but is struggling to secure a big enough budget to retain its best riders. Bauke Mollema will move to Trek Factory Racing, Lars Boom is heading to Astana and Theo Bos has been linked to MTN-Qhubeka.
