In a remarkable sporting crossover, Ymkje Clevering, the reigning Olympic champion in the coxless pair, having taken gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024, stole the show at the Dutch national time trial championships in Surhuisterveen. Despite having barely spent any time on a dedicated time trial bike, she powered her way to sixth place overall, just two seconds behind the legendary Ellen van Dijk, earning the red-white-and-blue jersey as the national champion in the without-contract category.
Clevering is best known for her rowing success, claiming Olympic gold alongside Veronique Meester last summer in Paris and silver in the coxless four at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021. Only a few weeks ago, she was in Varese racing the World Rowing Cup. Yet in between her water training, she decided to take a leap into cycling.
“My plan was kind of crazy,” Clevering admitted with a smile. “I thought, let’s just enter the national time trial and see what happens.” Her boyfriend, Rik Rienks, also a rower and son of Olympic legend Nico Rienks, also took part in the race. After stepping off the podium, Clevering chuckled when she saw him still wearing her time trial helmet: “I warned him it might be a bit sweaty!”
Rowers, as Clevering is quick to note, make natural time trialists. “Rowers are secretly built for time trialling,” she says. “Cycling is a big part of our training. I spend a lot of time on the bike, including two weeks this winter riding in Calpe, Spain.” Even so, until this summer, she had never seriously raced against elite cycling specialists. Earlier in May, she took eighth place at the Tijdrit Scholten Cycling Dalen, finishing behind riders like Britt Knaven, who was second and previously rode for NXTG/AG Insurance-Soudal between 2020 and 2023, but she had no other major results before her breakthrough sixth-place finish in Surhuisterveen.
“I’m a big rider and I can produce a lot of watts,” Clevering reflected afterwards. “But I’m also very amazed myself that the gap to the top in the Netherlands is so small. The last few weeks, I had some time to prepare properly, and I had to skip the rowing World Cup in Varese. Still, my focus was never to make a big plan of this; I just thought it would be fun to measure myself against the best.”
Asked whether she might take up cycling more seriously, Clevering smiled. “Physically, I probably have the qualities for time trialling,” she said. “But for other types of cycling, I’m not so sure. I’ve never even ridden in a peloton. For now, this was just a fun one-off. At the end of the week, I’ll be back in Amsterdam for a rowing regatta.”
Main photo credit: De Telegraaf
