One roster change following the Olympic games has already been announced this week, when Team Giant announced Thursday that 1996 Olympic Gold Medallist Bart Brentjens of Holland would be joining their team for the 2001 season.

"I am happy that I am going to ride for this team " said Brentjens in a press release. "It is one of the best teams in the mountain bike world. They have a very professional organization and have a group of co-sponsors with a very high standard of products. My program is going to be traditional with World Cup, European and World Championships — and the Dutch competition. This is what I like."

Brentjens has spent the past 3 years riding for the Specialized team, signing in 1997 for what was believed to be the largest-ever contract in mountain biking. After winning the World Championships in Germany in 1995, and then the Olympics in 1996, Brentjens was one of the sport's hottest commodities and immediately began thinking of the 2000 Olympics when he signed for Specialized.

But while his twelfth-place finish at this year's games were by no means a disaster, they were no doubt a disappointment for a man so adept at peaking for one day races. This summer, for example, he finished 3rd at the World Championships, making him a favorite for a medal again in Sydney.

Brentjens has been training since that time with controversial coach and trainer Gert-Jan Theunisse, who has also been training Marga Fullana (ESP) as well as managing the Subaru-Specialized team. Further complicating matters, Bart's wife Petra is sister to Theunisse's wife, Lieske.

Brentjens said further that he has reached an agreement for 2 years, starting January 1, 2001 and ending December 31, 2002. He will join accomplished riders such as Christophe Dupouey (FRA), who is the 1998 World Champion and downhiller Myles Rockwell (USA), the current downhill World Champion.

"Giant is very happy with this new development of their mountain bike team," said Tom Davies, Sport Marketing manager of Giant bicycles. "With the addition of Bart we have now 4 World Champions under contract and it is great to work with so many 'icons' of mountain biking for the next years to come."

The current roster of the 2001 Giant Mountain Bike Team is:

Cross-Country
Rune Hoydahl, Christophe Dupouey, Bart Brentjens, Dominique Arnould and Thomas Hochstrasser

Downhill
Myles Rockwell and David Vazquez

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— Ari Cheren, for MountainZone.com