"I notice it in our team with Jonas Vingegaard and also Wout van Aert" - Robert Gesink sees new generation enjoy cycling much more
Cycling
In 2024, Robert Gesink embarks on his 18th and final season in the professional peloton. After competing at the top level for such a long time, the 37-year-old is looking to enjoy this last year.
"You don't want to go on for too long," the Team Visma | Lease a Bike stalwart says in an open and honest interview with De Telegraaf. "You come to a point where you may become less of a fan of racing, but more of a fan of cycling itself. Then the balance turns the other way. At some point, you notice that. For example, if you are walking through the airport again to travel to the next race, while your family goes on holiday. I especially want to be at home more, have more freedom and experience a different way of cycling."
During his long and vast career with Team Visma | Lease a Bike in their various guises, Gesink has developed from GC contender, to super-domestique to the experienced road captain. "The stress that comes with that responsibility as a classification rider was not always fun," he recalls. Notably, Gesink's best Grand Tour finish came at the 2010 Tour de France when he finished just off the podium in 4th.
"Although there is also stress when you ride in the Vuelta a Espana in the service of three leaders. Maybe in a different way, but then you shouldn't screw it up," he continues. "You do see a new generation of riders who seem to deal with it in a different way. I notice it in our team with Jonas Vingegaard and also Wout van Aert. Also look at Tadej Pogacar. He is enjoying himself, sometimes playing it seems. That's nice to see."
When asked to pick a favourite career memory, Gesink struggles. "There are so many beautiful moments that are special in their own way. Victories with the team, but also victories that I have achieved myself," he says. "The beautiful life you have as a professional cyclist. There are many things I am proud of, such as my perseverance. I have returned to the highest level every time when things have gone wrong."
"But everyone goes through things in their lives. For me it is fully exposed and for others it may be less so," he concludes, noting that like every cyclist, injuries and struggles have been plenty for him. "There is no misery scale from 1 to 10. If you bump your knee and you can't start in a race you've worked hard for, that's miserable too. Or a corona infection, which means you cannot race for a long time and may therefore no longer receive a contract. Everyone has their stories and some are more spectacular than others."
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- No, it didn't. It has been debunked by the team that there was anything wrong with his feeding. Pogacar went too early and paid the price.maaiikeen31-12-2024
- Strong team around Jonas and pray each day that Tadej forgets to eat in the decisive stages (col du Granon). It also happened this year, stage 11 when Jonas won the sprint (incredible! Tadej was empty).
maria2024202430-12-2024 - Not quite yet I’d say but she could reach and surpass. You probably forgot Vos’ 2 track WC titles that outweigh the total and it has to be said more of PFPs MTB titles are a bit far fetched than Vos but yes they are comparable. It’s strange that with her consistent participation in xc she’s never ever managed to win even one race, Marie Schreiber can at least retire with that achievement ;-)Mistermaumau30-12-2024
- He may be known as “The goat” but I can’t realistically consider him a top ten candidate taking together all forms of cycling. Vos had 28 UCI WC wins, Absalon 33, Schurter 34, MVDP 41 and counting. As far as world championships they are all ahead too Longo, MVDP, PFP, Merckx, de Vlaeminck, TP and at least a half dozen others from long ago are surely higher up, or what criteria are you privileging other than a nickname?Mistermaumau30-12-2024
- and yeah, i’m a ridiculous blowhard for writing THAT MUCH. seriously, f me…OCexile30-12-2024
- this has diverged from being a per se cycling discussion, but that’s cool with me. so i live in the united states. for background, i grew up in southern california, educated at UC Irvine and UC Berkeley, and except for chunks of a 22 year Navy career i’ve lived here most of my life. there are things about this country, the way its social, political, and economic institutions function that IN MY OPINION fail considerably in comparison to other developed democracies. BUT, one thing that i think the US does excel in is that we have an extraordinarily high level of freedom of speech. now, that certainly opens the door for the alex joneses of the world to weaponize/monetize speech in utterly disgusting ways that do actual damage. it also gives freedom to politicians to say that the press is corrupt and should be jailed, like in russia, iran, or venezuela. these are DANGEROUS uses of freedom of speech. but as much as that freedom may imperil the well being of individuals and ideas — like the idea of liberty itself — it’s that freedom that has, over time, marked the SLOW movement toward greater equality and well being. this extreme level of free speech is certainly the primary fundamental right in the united states that has functioned, over time, to actively drive social progress. i mean, quack quack quack, right? the kind of speech that MOST needs protection is UNPOPULAR SPEECH. we KNOW this. but if you can only engage in unpopular speech IN PRIVATE, as you suggested, and be BARRED from a public platform to share those unpopular ideas, then your freedom to speak means very little and the whole project of social change and social progress grinds to a halt. “YES, you can talk about all races being equal to your friends, but you can’t publish any articles making that argument.” “YES, you can say that homosexuality isn’t a dangerous perversion that must be legislated against so long as you ONLY say it to your friends, but you can’t say it on a radio show.” so the problem is, if there’s going to be prior restraint of speech, the only person I’M gonna trust to decide who can say what before they say it is ME. if somebody wants to let me and my friends make all those decisions, then i’m IN. i’d expect a little pushback on that idea though. alex jones would probably like that job, too. lance would love that kind of power i bet. sooooo…. maybe it’s better to just leave things like they are. it’s ugly and messy and people get hurt, but once you SURRENDER that nearly unlimited freedom you’ll never get it back. and yes, society has drawn lines: still can’t threaten to blow up a mosque or share child pornography, etc. — that’s a pretty good idea. but erring on the side of freedom rather than censorship has been critical in preserving valuable free speech rather than seeing it slowly winnowed and legislated away. so yeah, there WILL be another alex jones, neonazis get to deny the holocaust, and lance gets to talk about cycling all he wants. and if you don’t like the source or the content then YOU are free to rail against it, or just not listen. as always, totally appreciate and respect YOUR perspective, brother. and i do get where you’re coming from. there are individuals in the US who have (or are about to have) the biggest platform there is who say things that drive me mad because i find them so dangerous and misleading, but the american version of democracy, with all its notable failings, has survived by preserving freedom of speech in the face of these types, not by limiting it.OCexile30-12-2024
- There is a cyclist, recently retired who raced as a Junior in 1997, and is known as 'The Goat'. Downhill legend, Greg Minnaar......wipperman9530-12-2024
- The road bias of this site shows up as PFP isn't mentioned - who is as successful as Vos, and from memory has more World titles.wipperman9530-12-2024
- his wife was surprisingly accurateabstractengineer30-12-2024
- Its the wrong thing to do the Vuelta after getting exhausted in the TDF. This is going to reduce his career potentialabstractengineer30-12-2024