The best Dutch road cyclists of the moment

The Netherlands may be a relatively small country, but in road cycling we think big. Over the years, many Dutch heroes in cycling have put our country on the international map. Today’s riders are building on that legacy. When you’re watching a race on TV, it’s worth keeping an extra close eye on the following names, because there’s a good chance they’ll deliver a strong result.

Tom Dumoulin

Tom Dumoulin is without a doubt one of the biggest Dutch cyclists of the moment. You don’t need to know much about road cycling to recognize his name. He has been racing as a pro since 2012, back then under Argos-Shimano. Since then, he has won stages in all three Grand Tours and has been crowned world champion multiple times. 

2015: Vuelta a España, six days in a row in the red leader’s jersey. He didn’t win the race, but it was his breakthrough.
2017: Winner of the Giro d’Italia
Also in 2017: Winner of the road cycling World Championships in Bergen
2018: Second in the Tour de France after multiple stage wins

In 2019, the rider was injured during the Giro d’Italia and had to end his season early. In 2020 as well (when he was set to start with Jumbo-Visma), he was unable to race due to a bowel issue. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought road cycling to a complete standstill. To make matters worse, he broke his wrist in 2021, which meant that season also came to a halt. But we expect him to be fully back in 2022, with his own focus firmly on the Giro d’Italia.

Mathieu van der Poel

Mathieu van der Poel made a huge impression almost immediately from his debut. When he was twenty in 2015, he competed in the road cycling World Championships for the first time and immediately became world champion. An exceptionally strong start, and it didn’t stop there. 

2015: road cycling World Championships 
2018: Dutch National Road Champion
Also in 2018: Bronze at the mountain biking World Championships
2019: World Champion cyclocross
Also in 2019: Dwars door Vlaanderen

With all these achievements, Mathieu van der Poel has attracted a major rival, namely Wout van Aert. An outstanding rider from Belgium. Although there is plenty of friendly rivalry between the two, Van der Poel currently leads 4-3 in victories. 

Taco van der Hoorn

Van der Hoorn grew up as a football fan before discovering road cycling. Although his focus remained on football for a long time, an injury eventually forced him to make the choice to fully commit to road cycling. It has certainly paid off. Since turning pro with Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij in 2017, he has added the following wins to his name.

2017: Schaal Sels
2018: Stage 3 of the BinckBank Tour
Also in 2018: Primus Classic
2021: Stage 3 of the Tour of Italy
Also in 2021: points classification in the Tour of Poland, Stage 3 of the Benelux Tour, Omloop van het Houtland

Since 2022, Van der Hoorn has been part of the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux team. So this season too, he will be pushing to get the very best out of himself, and we can expect a lot from him.

Bauke Mollema

Bauke Mollema is a name you have very likely heard more than once before. He has been racing professionally since 2008, and the victories he has taken since then are too many to count on two hands. He is therefore one of the most successful Dutch cyclists. We won’t list every achievement, but there are certainly a few honourable mentions. 

2010: In the Giro d’Italia he finished 12th, but later that same year he won the Tour of Poland and finished third in the general classification. 
2011: Vuelta a España: points classification
2013: Tour of Switzerland, second stage.
2016: Clásica San Sebastián
2017: Tour de France, fifteenth stage
2019: Tour of Lombardy
2021: Tour de France, fourteenth stage

Mollema has enjoyed plenty of success, but there have also been a few seasons where he wasn’t always able to give it everything. He has been through several crashes and injuries, and even contracted glandular fever at one point. Fortunately, it hasn’t been able to keep him away from cycling. So we expect to keep enjoying his racing for a long time to come. 

Of course, these are not the only strong cyclists around right now; there are many more promising riders who we expect to see competing at the top in the future as well.