The Arvid De Kleijn appreciation thread

[Tour de Berghem]

Thread dedicated to this dutch sprinter.

Yesterday he did an impressive sprint at Paris Nice.

The question is why he is emerging only now at 30 yr old.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

He's so underappreciated that even his appreciation thread spells his name wrong.

He only took up cycling at 16, then during his U23 years, he was trying to combine cycling with studying to become a PE teacher and he says the physical demands of doing both at the same time were too much. He eventually gave up on the latter to try and pursue a cycling career through the Dutch continental scene. Then, when he finally managed to escape that at 25 off the back of his first fullpro win at Druivenkoers, it was first for Riwal and then for Rally/HPH, teams where nobody really performed well (and even then he did fairly well at the latter). So basically all the ingredients for a late bloomer career were there before he went to Tudor, the first good team he's been at, the first team that's given him a proper train to work with, and it's showing. That said, these heights have to be a surprise for everyone...

 

[Berniece]

He's so underappreciated that even his appreciation thread spells his name wrong.

He only took up cycling at 16, then during his U23 years, he was trying to combine cycling with studying to become a PE teacher and he says the physical demands of doing both at the same time were too much. He eventually gave up on the latter to try and pursue a cycling career through the Dutch continental scene. Then, when he finally managed to escape that at 25 off the back of his first fullpro win at Druivenkoers, it was first for Riwal and then for Rally/HPH, teams where nobody really performed well (and even then he did fairly well at the latter). So basically all the ingredients for a late bloomer career were there before he went to Tudor, the first good team he's been at, the first team that's given him a proper train to work with, and it's showing. That said, these heights have to be a surprise for everyone...

I was listening to the "In het wiel" podcast this morning on the bike, and they were also saying he had a serious injury which resulted in the big development teams ignoring him when he was younger.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I was listening to the "In het wiel" podcast this morning on the bike, and they were also saying he had a serious injury which resulted in the big development teams ignoring him when he was younger.

Wasn't his big injury when he was 23-24?

 

[Potomac]

The name spelling was a small mistake.

 

[Tour de Berghem]

He's so underappreciated that even his appreciation thread spells his name wrong.

He only took up cycling at 16, then during his U23 years, he was trying to combine cycling with studying to become a PE teacher and he says the physical demands of doing both at the same time were too much. He eventually gave up on the latter to try and pursue a cycling career through the Dutch continental scene. Then, when he finally managed to escape that at 25 off the back of his first fullpro win at Druivenkoers, it was first for Riwal and then for Rally/HPH, teams where nobody really performed well (and even then he did fairly well at the latter). So basically all the ingredients for a late bloomer career were there before he went to Tudor, the first good team he's been at, the first team that's given him a proper train to work with, and it's showing. That said, these heights have to be a surprise for everyone...

I corrected

Thank you for the story of his career including the university and teaching ambitions, I did not know.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Looks like he's more than just a little guy...

 

[Berniece]

Wasn't his big injury when he was 23-24?

Not sure, in the podcast they said 10 years ago, so when he was 19. That he had a big knee injury. But it could be that it wasn’t that long ago, but then I don’t understand why they specifically mention development teams.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Not sure, in the podcast they said 10 years ago, so when he was 19. That he had a big knee injury. But it could be that it wasn’t that long ago, but then I don’t understand why they specifically mention development teams.

The knee injury was in 2018 as per this interview. In 2014, he was still at club level and raced 4 1.2s, the U23 nats and seemingly a lot of races on national and regional circuits (but difficult to find details on those 10 years after the fact), which seems inconsistent with a knee injury.

 

[Berniece]

The knee injury was in 2018 as per this interview. In 2014, he was still at club level and raced 4 1.2s, the U23 nats and seemingly a lot of races on national and regional circuits (but difficult to find details on those 10 years after the fact), which seems inconsistent with a knee injury.

Then they were just wrong in the podcast. Thanks for clarifying

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

The Dutch Mareczko?