Ellen van Dijk proud to be setting an example by showing "how normal it should be to perform at a top level as a mother"

After announcing her pregnancy earlier this year, Ellen van Dijk has been absent from the peloton so far in 2023. When she does return however, she has some big goals.

"Everyone I told reacted super-enthusiastically, and everyone was excited for us. It felt like a big weight had come off my shoulders. Of course, I already knew how the team had handled the pregnancies of Lizzie Deignan and Abi van Twisk," the 36-year-old Dutchwoman tells Cycling News. "Trek - Segafredo is leading by example."

Indeed van Dijk even told her team of the news before telling her parents! "That’s the strange reality of being a cyclist. When other people call their parents first, I had to share our delicate news with the team. However, I am lucky enough to be in the best team possible to be in this kind of situation," she says. "The positive pregnancy test was during training camp in January, which made it easier to tell the team straight away. But to be fair, I was still nervous. I realized it would have a big impact on our team."

"Women see and have different opportunities because of the new pregnancy rules. Lizzie showed that a mother can win big races, she showed what a mother is capable of. With the support of my team, I also have the chance to show the world how normal it should be to perform at a top level as a mother," continues van Dijk. "Our generation is lucky enough to experience this necessary change. I hope by the time our little boy or girl is older, we can tell him or her about this change and that he or she will react with disbelief: so, it wasn’t normal in the past?!"