Today's Veenendaal-Veenendaal Classic presented a tough challenge to our talents as the 1.1 category of the race attracted a competitive field to the start line. After becoming U23 European Road Race Champion and winning a stage in Czech Tour last weekend, our Alberto Dainese was one of the favorites as the race started. However, the strong Italian had to go back to the team car after 40 km, and change his rear wheel as it was broken. It took a while until the breakaway was firmly formed, and again we had our Sven…continue reading →

Today's stage number three at the Czech Tour presented a broken parcour that featured a total of four categorized climbs along the way, before facing the last 40 km flat all the way to the line. The start featured a breakaway of 5 riders, who broke clear of the peloton in the first phase of the stage. They were allowed close to three minutes before the pack picked up the pace. Our Tiago Antunes was part of some of the early moves that tried to make it up the road, but eventually, it did…continue reading →

We are delighted to announce the signing of Maikel Zijlaard ahead of the coming season. The 19-year old Dutchman will join the Academy after riding the last two seasons with Hagens Berman Axeon. "I am very happy and super motivated to be able to join the Academy and very much looking forward to the coming years. I want to achieve some great results personal and team-wise, and above all, I am looking forward to developing myself as a cyclist" points out Zijlaard. The talented Dutchman, who rode to third in the Giro d'Italia U23 prologue…continue reading →

After suffering a knee injury that kept him away from the road from February onwards, Sven Burger made his comeback at the U23 Dutch Nationals at the end of June and last Sunday, with just two racing days on the legs, he took sixth in Koga Slag om Norg, a UCI 1.1 race that features more of 50 km off-road. "Really happy and delighted, I’ve been sidelined for such a long time that I couldn’t wait to make my comeback regardless of what the result would be, however, I didn’t expect myself to…continue reading →

After Daan Hoole's sixth place in the TT of the U23 European Championships, today it was the day of the road race. Divided in different national teams, the Academy had representatives of the likes of Hoole and Kooistra (NED), Peák (HUN), Antunes (POR) and Dainese (Italy), ready to fight for the continental title.  The race took place in a very flat parcour around Alkmaar, which put the sprinters in pole position to win the race and take home the jersey. After the breakaway was caught, it all went down to the bunch sprint…continue reading →

The last stage of the 2019 Tour d'Alsace presented a parcour devoted for a final bunch sprint in the French village of Dannemarie, replicating the exact same finish that saw our Alumni Fabio Jakobsen put his arms up in the air in the 2017 edition while wearing Academy colors. The first part of the stage was marked by several attacks from the top of the peloton, trying to make it up the road. After some groups regrouped, we could find a 7-man breakaway coming into the final kilometers of the day, but the bunch…continue reading →