Who?

Dutchie and Utrecht-based. Before turning his attention to coaching, Michiel was a former professional on the road. He raced for Cofidis (FRA), Rabobank (NED) and Lotto (BEL). Winner of the Eneco Tour prologue and Duo Normand alongside Bradley Wiggins.

What about him?

Michiel was one of the youngest sport directors ever. After two years in the car with the Belgium Lotto team, he moved to Dutch team Rabobank. Spending his time at Rabo and Belkin, Michiel realised being just a DS wasn’t for him. He wanted to develop himself into a complete coach. And that’s where we came in. As a new project, we could offer Michiel the whole package – only at a development level instead of the WorldTour. Back to basics, with room to learn and make mistakes; jump on board as performance manager and develop yourself!

How did he perform?

Michiel did a fantastic job. He has been one of the founders in the program, building it from scratch. He trained, coached, and managed. From operations to scouting, Michiel worked on every aspect. During his time with the Academy, he completed his training and strength training course and used all that knowledge to bring the team up to the level he would like to see. As result, he was responsible for delivering six talents to the professional ranks in two seasons. Great achievement!

What was next after the Academy?

Successful coaches are in the picture for any team, especially when there is a management change coming up. That is why during the 2017 season Michiel was asked to step in as performance manager at Pro Continental team Verandas Willams – Crelan, taking on the role for which he developed during his time at the Academy.  We were more than happy to cooperate and see Michiel take the next step in his promising career, which after that took him to Team DSM where he worked with the WorldTour and the Development team and in 2022 he started a very exciting role at Axeon Hagens Bermans.