Domo–Farm Frites was a Belgian professional road cycling team that existed in the 2001–02 road cycling seasons. It was founded by

Patrick Lefevere Patrick Lefevere (born 6 January 1955) is a Belgian former professional cyclist, who currently serves as the general manager of UCI WorldTeam . The outspoken Lefevre was the driving force behind one of the most successful cycling teams in the wo ...

and the bulk of the Belgian riders from the Mapei team, including

Johan Museeuw Johan Museeuw (born 13 October 1965) is a retired Belgian professional road bicycle racer, road racing cyclist who was a professional from 1988 until 2004. Nicknamed ''The Lion of Flanders'', he was particularly successful in the cobbled classic ...

. Sponsor Farm Frites had previously co-sponsored TVM. The team won several notable one-day races in their existence, notably including a podium sweep of 2001 Paris–Roubaix led by

Servais Knaven Henricus Theodorus Josephus (Servais) Knaven (born 6 March 1971) is a Dutch professional road bicycle racer, currently sporting and technical manager for AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step. He was previously a directeur sportif for Team Sky/I ...

, 2002 Paris–Roubaix by

, and 2001 Paris–Tours by

Richard Virenque Richard VirenqueRichard Virenque's name is pronounced Ree-shah Vee-rahnk. Virenque considers himself a man of the South but pronounces his name in standard French. Confusion is caused by the southern habit of pronouncing "en" as "ang" or "eng", ...

. At the end of the 2002 season the team merged with the remnants of the disbanded Mapei team and became Quick-Step–Davitamon, with Lefevere at the helm. Sponsor Domo joined Lotto to co-sponsor team Lotto–Domo, with Marc Sergeant as team manager and taking several riders with him.

Roster

Through its two years of existence, the team included several notable riders. In its first year former Mapei riders Johan Museeuw, his super-domestique Wilfried Peeters, American Fred Rodriguez, and Axel Merckx. In addition, they enrolled

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Romāns Vainšteins Romāns Vainšteins (born 3 March 1973) is a former professional road bicycle racer from Latvia. He won the road race at the 2000 World Cycling Championship. Career He won the road race at the 2000 World Cycling Championship in Plouay, France ...

, sprinter

Robbie McEwen Robbie McEwen (born 24 June 1972) is an Australian former professional road cyclist. He is a three-time winner of the Tour de France points classification in 2002, 2004 & 2006 and, at the peak of his career, was considered the world's fastest ...

, classics specialist

, and Frenchman

who just returned from doping suspension. Rising young riders such as

Leif Hoste Leif Hoste (born 17 July 1977) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI Professional Continental Team team . Born in Kortrijk, Hoste's career highlights included winning two stages and the overall title at ...

, Andrey Kashechkin, and Gert Steegmans were also in the squad. The next year brought classics specialist Frank Vandenbroucke, and youngsters Nick Nuyens and Johan Vansummeren.

Notable wins

Their first year brought high-profile wins such as a podium sweep of the 2001 Paris–Roubaix with Servais Knaven, Johan Museeuw and Romāns Vainšteins on the podium. Wilfried Peeters finished fifth. Coming back from suspension, Richard Virenque won the 2001 Paris–Tours from a long two-man breakaway that many thought was hopeless. The next season opened with Johan Museeuw's charismatic win of the 2002 Paris–Roubaix from a solo breakaway of 40 km. Virenque continued his comeback with a stage win on

Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest mountain in the region and h ...

at the 2002 Tour de France. The season also included Museeuw's win in the

HEW Cyclassics The Hamburg Cyclassics (currently known as the Bemer Cyclassics for sponsorship purposes) is an annual one-day professional and amateur road bicycle race, cycling race in and around Hamburg, Germany. Although the route varies, its distance is alw ...

, although he did not win the UCI World Cup.

References

* http://www.cyclingarchives.com/ploegfiche.php?id=10019 * http://www.cyclingarchives.com/ploegfiche.php?id=10117 {{DEFAULTSORT:Domo-Farm Frites Cycling teams established in 2001 Cycling teams disestablished in 2002 Cycling teams based in Belgium Defunct cycling teams based in Belgium