Annemiek van Vleuten, a former Tour de France winner and multiple-time world champion, introduced that she is going to be a part of Fenix-Deceuninck as a efficiency mentor in 2025.
“New workforce, new problem! Shall be becoming a member of Fenix-Deceuninck as efficiency mentor. Stay up for sharing my expertise from the previous with the following technology and serving to them to grow to be higher athletes,” Van Vleuten stated in a submit to her social media channels on Friday.
Her new function might embody working with a few of the sport’s high riders, together with mountain bike World Champion and Tour de France’s greatest younger rider Puck Pieterse and Tour de France’s basic classification podium finisher Pauliena Rooijakker, amongst others, of their pursuits on the Ladies’s WorldTour.
Nevertheless, she stated that whereas it’s confirmed she is going to work intently with a choose few riders, the small print haven’t but been confirmed.
“We nonetheless need to determine that out a bit. It’s a little bit of a journey of discovery for myself and for the workforce. However I’m undoubtedly going to suppose together with the athletes and see how we are able to get the most effective out of this workforce,” Van Vleuten stated in a narrative printed on NOS
“The concept is to work with three riders in concrete phrases. It’s not but identified which three riders it is going to be. I’ll be a part of the workforce on the coaching camp in January and get to know everybody.
“It might be that I’ll work with Puck. She’s going to first do her ‘cross season and we are going to depart her alone for some time. I undoubtedly see Puck as a possible Tour winner. She has a whole lot of expertise. However I feel we have now to information her. She has to find herself. And I feel she should try this by making selections in what she actually desires to excel in. On this workforce, the principle factor is that the rider makes the selection himself and that additionally it is about having enjoyable.
“Since I used to be approached this spring, I’ve certainly began following Pauliena with a bit extra curiosity. Then you definately see somebody who has began to find herself as a classification rider. After all, I acknowledge myself in that very a lot. We would be capable to velocity up her course of a bit by pondering together with Pauliena. And generally it’s nearly giving belief.”
Van Vleuten retired from skilled racing on the finish of 2023 following a profitable 16 years that was highlighted by victories on the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta Femenina, Olympic Video games and main occasions on the Spring Classics resembling Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Van Vleuten stated that workforce co-owner Philip Roodhooft reached out to her within the spring to gauge her curiosity in working with Fenix-Deceuninck.
“He stated: ‘we have now the concept we nonetheless want one thing to let the riders take the ultimate step. We predict that you would be able to contribute to that,’” Van Vleuten confirmed.
“That’s an excellent alternative for me to develop myself as a coach. I knew I didn’t wish to be a workforce chief within the automotive, as a result of I feel others are higher at that tactically. And I didn’t wish to be a coach both. So this ‘free function’ may be very good for me.”
Van Vleuten additionally stated that she had mentioned potential alternatives working within the skilled peloton as a coach together with her long-time coach Louis Delahaije, whereas additionally wanting into sports activities psychology. “I feel that’s maybe essentially the most attention-grabbing half. And the place I can contribute most to the event of the riders,” she stated.
Van Vleuten defined extra about her determination to tackle a brand new function with Fenix-Deceuninck on her web site annemiekvanvleuten.nl . She stated that she was approached by a number of groups however that she selected Fenix-Deceuninck as a result of they have been “very nice and open”.
“I feel it is crucial that ladies and men in the identical workforce are provided the identical services. As well as, it rapidly grew to become clear to me that Philip Roodhooft actually has a transparent imaginative and prescient with this workforce. Riders are recruited as a result of they see expertise in them after which plans are made to additional develop this expertise. It’s not a workforce of riders who’re already winners after they be a part of the workforce,” she wrote.
“I used to be positively stunned by the well-organized construction and every part that has been organized inside this workforce. I noticed this workforce begin as a workforce the place some ‘crossers rode a highway program collectively, however this workforce continued to develop the place in my view the breakthrough actually got here in 2023 and we additionally began to bear in mind the plans that have been made inside Fenix-Deceuninck.
“I discover it attention-grabbing to work with riders and suppose together with them about how they’ll enhance themselves but additionally all the time need to hold the steadiness. I like how this workforce thinks about ‘efficiency’. Throughout my profession, I’ve additionally skilled and seen how necessary it’s to maintain that steadiness, however inside that to search for issues that might be higher.
“What additionally attracted me is that additionally it is an excellent alternative to develop myself inside a biking workforce. I believed it was nice that Philip introduced it to me on this method: as a journey of discovery for either side. I feel that neither of us has a transparent thought of how and what I can add to this workforce as a ‘efficiency mentor’, however there’s a clear want from either side to make a substantive contribution.”
