Milan Paulus joined the Academy last year as a first-year U23 and he is now enjoying his second season developing in our structure. The 19-year old is progressing through the ranks with higher and bigger goals each time around. We sat down with him to analyze the first part of the season.  How do you look at the first part of the season?I think I can say that I had a lot of bad luck in the past months. I crashed in Samyn and later at GP Vermarc. Because of another guy who…continue reading →

With just one more sleep until the U23 Dutch Time Trial Nationals are back in action, we want to take a deep look at the work that we do together with our performance partner, CyclingLab, on the aero testing and positioning of our riders on the TT bike. Aero and  TT specialist, Maarten van Kooij is the one managing the progress, adjustments, and improvements on the position of our main TT riders in order to find a balance between comfort, power, and bike handling. "To get the best out of a rider in…continue reading →

After a strong trip to Italy in which he seized his first win of the season at the Coppa della Pace and was close to doing it all over again at the Giro d'Italia U23, Daan Hoole looks back to the experience with mixed feelings. "I am super proud and happy of how we rode and won Coppa della Pace, but at the same time, I am a bit sad that we could not get a stage win or a good GC at the Giro d'Italia U23. We fought hard and showed some…continue reading →

The last stage of the Giro d'Italia U23, featured a predominantly flat parcour with a climbing section in the middle. Our talents have been showing his competitive mindset all race long and today was not going to any different. The stage was off to a fast start and Daan Hoole represented our colors in an early move together with nine more riders but the peloton quickly picked up the pace and brought them back with more than 80 km to go.  However, Hoole was not done with it just yet, and shortly after…continue reading →

Today it was the turn of the second-to-last stage at the Giro d'Italia U23, and the last showdown at the mountains considering that tomorrow the route that will take the riders all the way to the finish will be predominantly flat. The stage was off to a hectic start with several attempts to make it to the breakaway of the way in the category one climb that started right after the flag dropped. Initially, it started with a group of five, including Marco Frigo, but shortly after it was a group that featured…continue reading →

After the queen stage, it was the turn for another fast and furious day at the Giro d'Italia U23. Just 115 km, but with two category ones climbs in the way, was the menu for the bunch on the eighth day of the race. It was off again to a fast start, with a large group of 38 riders making it up the road.  The main group allowed the attackers a comfortable gap as it quickly went up close to the four-minute gap. The breakaway made its way up the last climb, and…continue reading →

The infamous stage with a final climb that went over 30 km was on today at the Giro d'Italia U23. The breakaway took off a bit faster than the past stages and quickly five riders opened a gap to the main group. The leaders worked together and increased the gap to well over three minutes and held off two chasers who jumped from the peloton but never made it to the front of the race. In the meantime, all our riders stayed safe near the front of the bunch.  Once the climbs started,…continue reading →

It was another very hard day out at the Giro d'Italia U23. The sixth stage between Bonferraro di Sogrà and San Pellegrino Terme featured a total of 176 km and only one category two climb that was crested 20 km shy of the finish line. The start was again really fast, with the peloton averaging 53,5 km/h.  It took more than 7o km for the breakaway to finally go away, and it was Marco Frigo who represented our interests upfront. They were allowed a bit more than a bit before the main group…continue reading →

After a first set of three stages in which the twisty and rolling parcours, today it the turn of a 25 km long time trial. It was a very flat route without any major technical sections. It was a stage marked on our roadbook as we expected to be up there fighting for the win again. The result was not too bad at the end as Daan Hoole rode through the route to claim the seventh fastest time of the day, while Marco Frigo rounded up the Top 10 in a great showing…continue reading →