"Not riding the Giro was a big disappointment" - Bauke Mollema sour about no Grand Tours in 2025

The National time trial championships were a first big race on Bauke Mollema's schedule in more than a month. But it's fair to say that a 17th place was way beyond the former (2022) Dutch champion's expectations.

"After ten or fifteen kilometres I already felt that I didn't have the legs today," Mollema said afterwards on RTV Noord. "Then a time trial like that is of course very fair and no good result comes out of it. I haven't raced much the last two months, but I knew that. I had trained a lot on the time trial bike, but a time trial like that never lies. Then you just have to do it with the legs you have and I didn't have them today."

The reason why Mollema had a racing break was because he was not selected for the Giro despite being on the shortlist. "On the one hand, it was nice to race less. Of course, I would have preferred to do the Giro, but being at home with the family was also nice. I went out more with the family. I have trained well again in the last month, but it is still strange to race so little."

"Not riding the Giro was indeed a big disappointment," the Dutchman continued. "It was just my goal. To be able to do my work there, for the team. If you don't ride it, there's a gap right away." And a Grand Tour doesn't seem to be on the 38-year-old's programme this year at all.

"The Tour was not on the schedule this year anyway and the Vuelta a Espana is not going to happen either. I don't want that myself," Mollema admits. His goals for the rest of 2025 lie elsewhere: "I want to try to prepare myself for the World Championships in Rwanda, just like last year. I am now doing some altitude training and specific training. That is my big goal for the autumn."