Antwan Tolhoek’s transformation from speed skater to climber
"Looking back, you can say that the process has gone quickly since the end of 2013 when I decided to concentrate on cycling. Now, just four years later, I am a WorldTour rider."
Team LottoNL-Jumbo has attracted a number of new
riders this year. 22-year old Dutchman Antwan Tolhoek is now ready for the WorldTour, but just four years ago, skating
marathons were his life.
Tolhoek joins from Dutch
professional continental team Roompot. He raced with them in 2016 after a 2015 trainee period with Team Tinkoff. The Russian WorldTour team saw that Tolhoek had
enough talent, but still had to mature a couple of years. He did, and now the young Zeeland cyclist is debuting in the WorldTour.
"Looking back, you can say that the
process
has gone quickly since the end of 2013 when I decided to concentrate on cycling. Now, just four years later, I am a WorldTour rider,” he said.
“Of course, it was my goal to
become
pro’ since the beginning, but I didn’t dare dream that it would happen so quickly.”
Despite Tolhoek only
serious starting cycling in 2014, he had trained on a road bike during his time as a speed skater.
Ice skating
Cycling was important in his family. His father
Patrick Tolhoek was a professional rider and rode the Tour de France a number of times. Still it seemed Antwan Tolhoek would
not become professional cyclist.
“Everything started with speed
skating. I skated with speed skaters from my neighbourhood, and they took me to training and to races. Before I knew it, I was travelling the whole country to compete
in
tournaments.
”I was particularly very good at
marathons, but also found my way on the indoor ice tracks. When I was a junior, I moved to the north of the Netherlands and I focused completely on skating. I moved to
Heerenveen and was coached by Henk Angenent, a skating icon and winner of the last Elfstedentocht."
Angenent forced him to think critically about
his
future. Tolhoek realised the importance of cycling for him. Soon after, he joined team WV De Jonge Renner.
"I decided to put all my energy into
cycling to become a professional. I was first with team WV De Jonge Renner and then straight to the Rabobank Development Team. When I was training for speed skating, I
trained almost as much on the bike as I now do as a high-level cyclist, so I had a nice base."
Zeeland climber
During his years with the Rabobank Development
Team, Tolhoek began
to develop into a climber. And since he is from the flat Zeeland, he would only see the mountains in races.
“I did well in races with hills.
Then
I started riding them more and more,” he said. “I love to training in the mountains now. It's just you on your bike against the
mountain. It’s suffering to the top, which is what I love to do.
“At LottoNL-jumbo, I hope to race
more
in the mountains in order to become a better climber. I start in February in the Ruta del Sol, and the Tour of the Basque Country is also on my programme. The Basque
race
appears to be the toughest stage race of the year. So I'm wondering how I'm going to go.”
His training area around Yerseke is pancake flat
and
so Tolhoek occasionally travels to the Ardennes. He still lives at home with his parents, but may soon move to
Lanaken, Belgium.
“For my career as a climber, this
is a
logical consequence,” he said.
Mountain jersey in a
WorldTour
race
Tolhoek’s career did not
start with Tinkoff, but that gave him a chance to ride for Roompot and then the top Dutch team LottoNL-Jumbo. With Roompot, he won the mountains jersey in the Tour de
Suisse.
“I regretted that I would not
become a
pro’ right away with Tinkoff, but other WorldTour teams, including LottoNL-Jumbo, showed interest. I was still very young, though, so Team Roompot was a
perfect fit.
“At the beginning of the season,
it
was very though during the Ruta del Sol, but soon after that, I found some good shape. Especially, in the Tour de Suisse, I was in great shape and I was able to show
myself. The mountain jersey in Switzerland was a breakthrough. From that it was clear that I could improve further."
In 2017, Tolhoek will
stick with his trainer, for a third year in a row working with Grischa Niermann. Niermann is also making the step up from the Rabobank Development Team to Team
LottoNL-Jumbo.
"I like that Grischa will be a sports
director in the team. Since my time in the Rabobank Development Team, we have had a good relationship. During my time at Roompot, he continued to coach me and our
collaboration was always good. His experience has helped me much and the steps I've made in recent years are also due to his work.”
Classification cyclist
Tolhoek is also
considering
racing for the classification in some stage races. His aim is to test himself over three weeks in the grand tours.
“That is the highest goal in
cycling.
I hope I can improve my climbing capabilities to compete in the GC. I have tried it several times, but I have always had trouble with time trials. Team LottoNL-Jumbo
focus
on that discipline, so I’ll have the possibility to train more on my time trial bike. I used to be a good five-kilometre skater, so I’m used
to
suffering against the clock.
"Of course I want to learn a lot next
year,
but I secretly have another important goal. I want to start and finish my first grand tour. I want to earn the selection because the team thinks I can handle it. If I'm
realistic, I know that the Vuelta is my first opportunity.
“I will do everything to show
myself
for the selection. This is exactly why I traded my skates for a bike."
