"There was a lot of laughter about that in the team" - Victor Campenaerts talks about his tough first cycling steps in Jumbo-Visma

Victor Campenaerts is now one of the better riders in the peloton. Not only the hour record is in his name. In the last Tour de France, the Lotto-Dstny rider was voted the most combative rider. In latest RIDE magazine issue, he talks about tough beginings when the Belgian bridged over from triathlon, bringing novelties such as scales to weigh food.

"I was the first to arrive at a long breakfast table and brought a scale. By talking to dietitians I knew that there was an optimum amount of food you could eat before exercise. If you go over it, you put a burden on your digestion. And if you eat too little, you will simply have too little energy. So I always had a weighing school with me for breakfast. The next rider who came and sat directly opposite me was Robert Gesink."

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"Gesink observed how I was weighing the food. When about ten riders were sitting at the table, he spoke. 'Guys, you should watch it. We have something new here. Here comes someone with a scale for breakfast.' I can tell you that it was tough. If Gesink, the big man of that team, says something about you, that is something different than when a rider from Topsport Vlaanderen says something."

"Gesink made it clear that he was not in favor of sitting at the table with a scale. There was a lot of laughter about that in the team, but I persisted in bringing those scales with me. Nowadays, no one eats breakfast without a scale, including Robert Gesink. My relationship with Robert at that time was not really good. When I see him now we always have a cordial conversation. I should actually ask him if he still thinks back to that moment."

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