2011 Rabobank season

The 2011 season for the Rabobank cycling team began in January at the Tour Down Under and ended in October with Michael Matthews' participation in the Noosa Grand Prix.

No rider was especially more prolific than any other – Michael Matthews, Lars Boom, Robert Gesink, and Theo Bos each had multiple wins.

[14] Rabobank, and in particular team manager Breukink, are among the ban's most vocal opponents, and they were at the forefront of the planned protest, promising to take the start with earpieces in place.

After an aggressive first two hour of racing that covered the near 100 km (62 mi) before the first cobbled sector, Tjallingii worked his way into a ten-man escape group.

[20] Tjallingii called the result the "greatest day ever" in his career, and was ecstatic that he had made the podium and had not slipped to fourth place.

[23] Martens turned in decent rides at the other two Ardennes classics, with a 10th place in La Flèche Wallonne and 13th in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the team's highest finisher in both events.

Matthews took the race win ahead of another German, Marcel Kittel, who rode for his regular trade team Skil–Shimano.

[29] Dead flat and only 2 km (1.2 mi) long, riders were not allowed to use the specially designed bicycles and helmets that are customary in nearly all professional time trials.

Despite the very short distance, Boom still had a solid four-second gap over world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara in second.

Bos won the sprint finishes to stages 1 and 3,[31][32] besting full fields including sprinters the likes of Mark Cavendish, Daniele Bennati, and Matthew Goss both times.

He stated after the stage that the hilly course played to his strengths, as did the fact that, like the Tour of Qatar time trial, this one was ridden on normal bicycles.

[34] It was the first time trial that he had ever won as a professional; he had started the stage simply hoping to keep the race lead, and instead increased it to over a minute.

[36] Freire added to the team's successful early season at the Ruta del Sol, winning the last two stages in field sprints.

[43] Freire called the penalty a "disgrace" and stated that the apparent push was Sánchez signaling him that he should pass him and begin his sprint.

[46] He rode to fourth place the next day in the individual time trial, but since Xavier Tondó did him 12 seconds better by finishing third, he lost the race lead to the Spaniard.