The Dutch federation has revealed their team for the 2024 Olympic Games road cycling events, naming Dylan van Baarle and Daan Hoole to support leader Mathieu van der Poel in the men’s road races. Demi Vollering will have Ellen van Dijk, Lorena Wiebes, and 2012 Olympic champion Marianne Vos alongside her for the women’s road races.
Koos Moerenhout built the men’s team around reigning road world champion Van der Poel, with Van Baarle as co-leader. “Everyone now knows that I’m happy that Mathieu has made the choice to only start the road race in Paris,” Moerenhout said in a KNWU press statement. Van der Poel had considered racing the mountain bike event but abandoned those plans in December.
“With a clear focus and a decent route for the Games, we will once again go for success with this team. The course leads the riders right through the streets all around Paris and especially the climbs around Montmartre offer opportunities. Daan Hoole will support the two leaders and will participate in the time trial.”
Loes Gunnewijk, in charge of selecting the women’s team, chose the top three ranked Dutch riders – Demi Vollering, Lorena Wiebes, and Marianne Vos, along with Van Dijk, whose position was impacted by her year off for maternity leave. This year, Van Dijk has won the Tour de Normandie TT, Vuelta Extremadura Féminas TT, Omloop van Borsele TT and a TTT stage of the Vuelta España Femenina.
“Obviously it was a difficult choice with the wide top of riders that the Netherlands is currently rich,” Gunnewijk said. “These four ladies complement each other and have absolute qualities to flame in orange and for the medals. All the recent successes of the riders underline this. We look at the preparations with this team with great confidence and go for nothing less than gold.”
Annemiek van Vleuten, the retired Tour winner, weighed in on the selections. “I am very glad I am not the coach,” she said to NOS. “I would choose Marianne Vos, Lorena Wiebes, and Demi Vollering. They can all win the race.” Van Vleuten also mentioned Ellen van Dijk for the time trial and to lead during the road race.
During the last Olympic Games, Van Vleuten was part of the selection. Despite winning gold in the time trial, the road race outcome was disappointing. “We lost gold because we didn’t establish clear roles. The coach must make that decision, not the riders,” she remarked. “Lessons were learned from the previous Olympics. Look at the recent world championships. Clear agreements were made, and it worked well. That will happen again.”
The Dutch team passed over a host of riders who were higher ranked than Hoole and Van Baarle, including sprinters Olav Kooij and Dylan Groenewegen, Fabio Jakobsen, and Thymen Arensman, who placed third in the Giro d’Italia stage 14 time trial.
Netherlands Olympic team:
- Mathieu van der Poel (road race)
- Dylan van Baarle (road race)
- Daan Hoole (road race, time trial)
- Demi Vollering (road race, time trial)
- Ellen van Dijk (road race, time trial)
- Marianne Vos (road race)
- Lorena Wiebes (road race)
