Bauke Mollema reveals to be a big distance ice-skating enthusiast: "If the Elfstedentocht ever comes, I wish to participate"

Bauke Mollema has been cycling in the professional peloton for years, but he is also a ice-skating enthusiast. If there was ever another Elfstedentocht (distance ice-skating race), he would step off course and quickly fly back to the Netherlands. He said this in an interview with Algemeen Dagblad.

Mollema, who played ice hockey as a child and whose partner Jane is a former marathon skater, is a member of the Royal Association of De Friesche Eleven Cities. "If the Elfstedentocht ever comes, I wish to participate. The only question is whether that will ever happen again. But if it happens, I would fly back. Or step off course. Then I have to be there. Sure."

In recent years, Mollema, who now lives in Monaco, has been on the ice less. But at the beginning of his professional career as a cyclist, he still regularly strapped on his irons. "There were certain winters when I still skated a lot in the winter, even as a professional. In 2011, when I rode for Belkin, I skated around for an hour every two weeks," says the 37-year-old rider, who now more often chooses running as an alternative training.

Mollema's conversation with the AD was of course also about cycling. The Dutchman emphasized that he hopes to start again in the Tour de France in 2024, after he was not selected last year. "I really want to go for that. That is the goal," said the Lidl-Trek rider. "Hopefully my level is good enough. And otherwise it will be the Vuelta."