Who?

Dutch rider from Enter, a place in the East of the Netherlands. Born in 1992.

What about him?

Great guy! He was a fantastic ITT talent, but much more than that: fast, strong and with a great work ethic. Not everyone could work with him from the start. It took time, but when he opened up everyone loved having him in the team. Steven arrived at the Academy as Dutch ITT Champion U23 and with a traineeship at Giant-Alpecin under his belt.

How did he perform?

The goal we had was clear: to become professional. But we wanted to turn him into an all-around winner – not just an ITT specialist. At the same time, we were paying even more attention to his speciality: time-trialing. Steven and performance coach Peter Schep worked extremely well together. With SEG Racing Academy, Steven reached all his goals: he gave the team its first win ever: a stage at Triptyque des Monts et Chateaux, he won the ITT and GC at Tour de Berlin and for the 2nd time in a row he became Dutch champion ITT U23. Also impressive was, for example, his 7th place at Liege-Bastogne-Liege U23, at a time when he thought he was not able to climb. The absolute highlight of the season was winning the U23 European Championship U23. Amazing results from a special talent!

What was next for him after the Academy?

Obviously there was a lot of interest in Steven, but in the end it seemed logic to choose for a next step at Dutch WorldTour Team Lotto-Jumbo. Steven signed a two-year contract after spending some time as a trainee with the team as well. In 2018 he joined the French Pro Continental team, Vital Concept, and after two years with the team he decided to put an end to his career after four years in the professional ranks. We are proud to have helped Steven in his development as well as in his step up to the professional ranks.