Dutch team Rabobank will skip the season opening at the Tour of Qatar this year, according to Wieler Magazine. The team around manager Erik Breukink already didn't take the start in 2008.
Rabobank's best year in Qatar was in 2004, when its sprinter Robert Hunter took the overall win ahead of Robbie McEwen. The invention of the team time trial wasn't the ideal scenario for Rabobank, although they finished fourth in this year's edition, four seconds behind the Garmin team.
Still, the best Rabobank result in the subsequent stages was a 16th place by Maarten Tjallingii. Rabobank will instead focus its efforts in Europe and participate in the Volta ao Algarve.