Dinis Martins, 16-year-old Portuguese, joins Dutch team that helped Olav Kooij thrive

This Thursday, Willebrord Wil Vooruit announced the arrival of young Dinis Martins, just 16 years old. The youngster from Caldas da Rainha has completed his final year as a cadet and is heading to the Netherlands to begin his career at junior level. Willebrord Wil Vooruit is a team with a good name in cycling training, with names like Jumbo-Visma sprinter Olav Kooij having come through the ranks in 2019.

Dinis Martins has raced since 2017 for Caldas EcoSprint/NUTEA, a team he has represented both on the road and on the track, and it was in the latter specialty that he achieved his greatest success: the cadet national title in the elimination race.

On the road, success has also appeared, with podiums in the final classification of the Portuguese Cup, a top 10 finish in the Cadet Tour of Portugal and an appearance at the Youth Olympic Games. He has victories and, above all, a large number of podiums in one-day races.

With this move, Dinis Martins is the latest name to head abroad to complete his training, a trend that has been going on for a considerable number of years, with names such as João Almeida, Ruben Guerreiro, the Oliveira twins and, more recently, António Morgado and Gonçalo Tavares following the same path;