Chantal van den Broek - Blaak wants to show red-white-blue in her final year

Chantal van den Broek - Blaak wants to show red-white-blue in her final year

23/10/2024

In 2025, Chantal van den Broek - Blaak will be with Team SD Worx - Protime for the 11th year. In 2015, the Zuid-Hollandse joined the then Boels-Dolmans formation. Since then, she has been one of the leading riders of the past decade with major victories at the World Championships in Bergen in 2017, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Strade Bianche, Amstel Gold Race, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Gent-Wevelgem, among others. With her Dutch title in 2024, after becoming a mother to her daughter Noa in the autumn, Blaak is still proving she can perform at the highest level.

Linked cyclists Chantal Van Den Broek-Blaak

Chantal van den Broek - Blaak is not only one of the best riders in the Team SD Worx - Protime team, but certainly also one of the most important culture carriers. At 34 years old, her experience is important for the whole team. 

Sports manager Danny Stam saw that ‘Blaakie’'s first year after motherhood was quite a tough one for her. ‘But as always, she still showed positive outliers, as we are used to from her. It is clear that Chantal is not done with cycling yet. I am confident that we can enjoy her again next year. It is nice to have her in the team in red-white-and-blue as Dutch champion. Last year, she had a lot of injuries and illnesses. Hopefully she will have few setbacks in 2025 so that she can show off the champion's jersey in full again. We therefore did not hesitate for long to present her with another one-year contract.’

Chantal van den Broek - Blaak: ‘2025 will be my last year of racing. It will be my eleventh year with this team. I sorted out for myself whether I still wanted to cycle. Last season was difficult for me. I had some setbacks to deal with and that, combined with motherhood, made it difficult. It didn't turn out to be the season I was hoping for, but it has been a realistic year. Becoming a mother during a top-level sports career means you actually have to take two years off. In the run-up to the NK, I felt I could train and recover like old times again. I am there again, it shot through my head. That national title was confirmation that my feelings were right. Becoming Dutch champion as a mother, it is an absolute highlight in my career. I can cycle my last year in red-white-blue, a career couldn't end more beautifully.’

‘I am proud of how my husband Lars van den Broek and I manage this together. It is not natural to combine top sport with motherhood. And Lars also still works himself, but together we manage. Winning is extra special since Noa arrived. But it was also a difficult year. Because I was out during my pregnancy, and afterwards through some injuries, I also had a lot of time for myself. Normally, as a top athlete, you just race along and stay in that tunnel. You forget everything around you, so to speak, and focus only on your sport. But that fell silent and suddenly the world appeared very big and I had all the time in the world to look in the mirror. That was confronting, but I learned a lot about myself. I am very grateful that I was able to experience this. The results continued to be lacking apart from the Dutch title, but I had a very instructive year, which will also help me in the final season of my career.’

‘I feel I can still teach Team SD Worx-Protime a lot in my final year. The performance drive is there. Whether I will really be able to stop on a high, I don't know yet. But that winner's mentality is part of who I am. I will train hard and do everything I can to get everything out of it one more time. I want to contest finals. If I can't win anymore, I will also be at peace with passing the baton. But I want to honour that national jersey. I also hope to pass on my experience and knowledge to the less experienced girls in the group. That is in my character, but in my career I have never really been able to focus on that because the focus was so hard on performing myself. So in the races that don't suit me or where I am purely there to help, I will try to teach the younger riders something. I therefore feel that I can still really play a significance for Team SD Worx-Protime and then it was an easy choice to give everything for one more year.’

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