Volharding Cycling Team, Netherlands

Developing future cyclists

Some people watching the cycling on tv may believe that there’s a little orchard somewhere, and that this is where pro cyclists are grown. I’m afraid not – they don’t grow on trees. They’re developed by altruistic people within Cycling sport; dedicated people like Hessel Glotzbach, the manager at Volharding Cycling Team, based in the Netherlands, where they have one of the best U23 cycling development set-ups in European Cycling sport. Coming from cycling background himself, Hessel understands the pressure that impacts on young riders, and he’s used this personal experience, alongside his analytical manager’s mind, setting a goal and 3-year strategy to create an environment where talented young riders can be guided towards their ultimate cycling dreams – the pro peloton – but, with the right support mechanisms around them.

Looking in detail at the Volharding Cycling Team management structure and support, this young squad based in the Netherlands are probably the leading U23 development team in how they’ve approached that key area of a cyclist’s growth planning – the jump between youth rider and the pro peloton. Yes, the under 23 category is the place where a rider can either make it or break it, with dreams achieved… or left in pieces, if not correctly managed. To many young cyclists are left on the cycling scrapheap through a failure not necessarily of talent, but instead, due to a failure to get the right support as they undertake that important journey into the peloton.

Small details create big personal gains

Speaking with Hessel, his focus is to ensure that the development needs are addressed in a unique way for each rider, and that every area is looked at: from bike fits, shoe fits, individual training plans, mental welfare and personal needs, to nutrition and the correct identification of the cycling aspect that suits a rider best. He tells me that recently, when working with a young rider who thought that they were a climber, he took him out onto the cobbles and to give them another aspect of road cycling to consider and to address, before understanding where their true strength lay.

“We try to nurture riders at the right pace. Riders think they are climbers, and we need to test them on cobbles and other areas. To try to test them and see what they are actually capable of in every aspect.”

In a way, Hessel is a bit like a shepherd for the squad, guiding each young rider, whilst watching their movement and catering for their needs.

His goal isn’t to win races – that’s too simplistic. No, he wants the success of the Volharding Cycling Team to be measured in how many young riders they help to move onwards as pro cyclists. It’s a 3-year plan, and he’s well on the way to achieving it, thanks to the unique approach of this amazing development squad, and the obvious support that Hessel and the others have generated from within the cycling industry. Support such as that which we at Lake provide, working with Hessel to accurately measure the feet and asses the cycling shoe requirements for each rider, before wrapping their feet in our legendary Lake comfort and performance. It’s a partnership that we’re proud to be a part of, and one close to the heart of our joint-owner Christian, who takes on the task himself. Ultimately, without a future peloton, we don’t have a cycling industry.

Wrapping the feet of young riders in success… and comfort

Like all aspects of management at Volharding Cycling Team, the rider is looked after as an individual when it comes to their Cycling shoes. Riders are individually given a shoe fitting session by our Lake experts – in this case, Christian Van Asten himself! From here, we can determine the right cycling shoe for them. Within the current squad of riders, there’s a mix between our CX333 – the ultimate in road cycling shoes – and out legendary CX302. The CX302 supports those riders who need a lower forefoot area. It’s the ultimate lightweight climbing shoe without sacrificing comfort, secure fit or power transfer. With its dual BOA® Li2 dials and Lake’s handmade CFC 3K carbon fibre sole, you have a cycling slipper that weighs an amazing 195 grams and gives you a super-stiff sole that transfers all of that power into forward momentum. It’s also a super-stylish and modern looking Cycling shoe – a key element for young riders, we know!

Hessel himself chooses the CX333, which has already become a favourite across the global Lake cycling shoe family. From our perspective, with over 40 years of innovation in cycling shoe design, our CX333 is evolution of the cycling shoe, with comfort, performance and style in perfect harmony. It has a Carbitex arch support panel, and a heat moldable heel counter, to give you the most secure fit possible. It makes the impossible, possible, by wrapping your feet in a performance oriented second skin, whilst giving you breathability and modern styling, alongside our legendary Lake cycling comfort.

Hessel tells me that “Lake suits us very well, because they think a lot about products. Riders think one kind of shoe. However, we get them to have a full shoe fitting, try Lake and see… one rider with knee injury, went to Lake and performed better. Lake looks at every detail, like widths, volume, quality and material.

A team for all cyclists

At Volharding Cycling Team, Hessel has put together both a men’s and a women’s squad; with the women’s squad coming into realisation in the past year. The team are in the third year of a plan to become the best cycling development team in Netherlands at U23 level. The Volharding Cycling Club exists alongside the team, now filling a gap in the centre of this amazing cycling nation – the Netherlands.

By sending teams and riders to race UCI events and stage races all over Europe, this band of young cyclists from the heart of the Netherlands is definitely on course to achieve its goals – and more besides. And our team at Lake, led by Christian, will be alongside them all the way, finding their fit as each young rider finds their own route into the pro cycling peloton.