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"Last year, Milan was fighting for his life" - Merijn Zeeman blown away by recovery of Tour of Guangxi winner Milan Vader
CyclingTuesday, 17 October 2023 at 14:00
Milan Vader helped cap off a special year for Jumbo-Visma in the perfect way on Tuesday in China as he secured overall victory at the Tour of Guangxi.
"Last year, Milan was fighting for his life. A season and a half later, he wins the final classification of a WorldTour race. This is exceptional," said Jumbo-Visma sports director Merijn Zeeman, lauding praise on Vader's recovery from spending 12 days in a medically induced coma following a crash at the 2022 Itzulia Basque Country.
"We gave Milan a chance in our team and started to work with him intensively. His coach, Tim Heemskerk, has been working with him for years to make the transition from mountain biking to road cycling," Zeeman continues. "For him to finish his second season in our team this way is exceptional and completely unexpected. A very nice surprise."
"I always had this scenario in my head after the crash," added Vader. "The doctors said they were already happy that I could get back on the bike. My motivation was to get back to my old level. My first professional wins were a stage win and the final classification here in China: I wanted that for a long time."
In a double celebration on the final stage, Olav Kooij actually took the stage win of the final stage too, fully asserting Jumbo-Visma's dominance. "Unbelievable, this is extraordinary. The goal for the season with Olav was to get ten wins, but he has already got his thirteenth," said Zeeman. "Olav is one of the first riders of our development team. He has developed from a young talent to an international top sprinter. We are very proud of that in the team."
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