“One last dance” – Final chapter begins for one of the Netherlands’ most accomplished modern riders

There was no announcement. No press conference. No headline-grabbing statement. Just a quiet Instagram post from Bauke Mollema that carried more weight than it first appeared.

“Time flies when you're having fun! From the local NWVG Cycling to Rabobank/Belkin to Lidl-Trek. I'm very grateful to have lived my dream for 20 years. Now it's time to start my final season as a professional rider. One more year, one last dance. See you on the road!” Mollema captioned a compilation post of his career on his social media page.

This is not necessarily new information. Mollema has spoken before about 2026 more than likely being his final year in the peloton. But the timing changes how it lands.

Because now the season is about to start. Race numbers are about to be pinned on. Start lists are beginning to take shape. And suddenly, this is no longer a distant farewell. It is happening now.

Mollema’s career sits in a very particular place in Dutch cycling history. He is not simply a long-serving professional reaching the end. He is a rider whose palmarès stretches across nearly two decades at the top level, from the Rabobank era through to Lidl-Trek.

He is a Monument winner at Il Lombardia. A winner of Clásica de San Sebastián. A two-time stage winner at the Tour de France. A former sixth-place finisher overall at the Tour, with top-ten general classification results across all three Grand Tours during his career.

He has been a general classification rider. A breakaway specialist. A hilly classics contender. And he remained relevant through each phase.

Very few riders manage that evolution without fading quietly from the picture. Mollema never did.

When he writes “one last dance”, fans do not picture a farewell criterium. They picture the races where he has already left his mark.

Lombardia. San Sebastian. The mountains of the Tour de France. The long solo days out front have become part of modern race memory.

That is why this final season will feel different.

Every time his name appears on a start list in 2026, there will be an unspoken line attached to it. The last time.

No dramatic announcement was needed. His career already provides the context. This Instagram post simply marks the moment where that reality begins to settle in for everyone else.