An Olympic champion figure skater turned to cycling

the dutch Carljin Achtereekte, Olympic champion in speed skating in 2018 and since 2017 has been part of the Jumbo-Visma team, quit skating and moved to the cycling division of the same club, with whom he will do pre-season concentration with the aim of making his Dutch championship debut on June 25.

“Depending on its evolution in training sessions and career results, the team will determine when the Achtereekte will run in its first major test“, indicated the formation.

Achtereekte, 32, won gold in the 3,000 meters at the 2018 Games, in 2020 he became the world runner-up in the same distance and in 2021 he finished third in the 5,000 meters at the World Cup.

Last April his contract with the Jumbo-Visma skating team expired and Achtereekte reflected: “I’m done with skating, but I’m not done with high-competition sport yetHe contacted sporting director Merijn Zeeman and the change began to take shape.

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“As a skater, you go in your own lane and no one bothers you. Now I have to learn to deal with the nervousness of the peloton and fight for my position. It will take practice, but I think I will learn those skills quickly. I will emulate my teammates and I hope to play a role in team service. “

“Over the next few weeks we will focus on increasing endurance and training the technique.“, indicated the director of Team Jumbo Visma Women, Esra Tromp.” Carlijn’s physical appearance is beautiful; it is shown by their values. The biggest challenge is in the bike game. Learn to position yourself, assess opportunities, shoot with conviction. We will focus on that in the next stage. “

According to Tromp, the former skater can bring a lot to the team: “For example, a high-level athlete mentality. Carlijn dares to make decisions, set priorities and knows what to achieve his goals. He breathes high-level sport.”

Achtereekte was not the first Jumbo-Visma rider to switch sports. Ahead of him were Slovenian Primoz Roglic, a former ski jumper, and Dutch Amber Kraak, a former rower.. But Achtereekte was the first to make a change within both teams.