Maarten Tjallingii extended his contract with Team LottoNL-Jumbo for half a year. The strong Dutchman will quit cycling after the Dutch national championships and focus on a coaching career. He is looking into some educations to reach that post cycling goal.

“I’m glad that I can finish my cycling career with Team LottoNL-Jumbo,” Tjallingii said. “I’ll become a coach afterwards. To help people reaching their goals is a beautiful job. I’m creating a method for it, with a system that worked out for me in my sports career. I think that I can bring that to the business life and to the world of sports. Everyone can use a coach.”

But first, Tjallingii wants to finish his career in style. “I think that it’s important that I show how good I am yet another time. I’m looking forward to my last races with a lot of enthusiasm. I’m aiming for good results in the spring classics and the Giro d’Italia.”

Good scenario
“Maarten came to us with the proposal of extending his contract for half a year,” sports director Nico Verhoeven added. “We had to think about that for a while, but everything was said and done quite quickly. If this is his wish and he still can be useful for us in the most important races in the first half of the year, it’s a good scenario for us, as well. Plus, he will get enough space to start studies he’s looking forward to.”