Belgian National Champion Jolien D’hoore is one of the eight new signings for Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling for the 2015 season. Born on March 14, 1990 D’hoore picked up cycling at the age of twelve after having competed in athletics since she was six. One of the guys in her athletics club had successfully switched to cycling, so, that seemed like a good reason for Jolien to follow the same path. Following Jolien’s introduction to cycling, everything went fast for the youngster. Jolien went to a few cycling races as a spectator, applied for a racing licence and immediately started competing in races. That was the start of an already beautiful career for D’hoore.
Jolien D’hoore has always been a talented athlete. On the track she collected several Elite national titles while she was still a junior back in 2008. Later that year she became the Junior Road World Champion in South Africa and also won a bronze medal in the team pursuit at the European Championships, together with Evelyn Arys and Jessie Daams. In 2009, at the age of 18, D’hoore turned pro with the Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley team and raced for them for the next four years before switching to Lotto-Belisol Ladies team in 2013.
In 2012 D’hoore (who has a Bachelor degree in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences) was fifth place in the Omnium at the Olympic Games in London, and won her first Belgium national road title. From that point D’hoore continued to develop herself into a very accomplished all-round athlete. In 2014 Jolien won five major UCI races including the National Championship, two stages in the BeNe Ladies Tour, a stage in the Boels Rental Ladies Tour and the Diamond Tour. In addition, Jolien won the Omnium at the Guadelajara World Cup in Mexico and, finished second in the Omnium at both the European Track Championships in Guadeloupe and the London World Cup. Due to her consistency Jolien leads the Omnium World Cup after two of the three events.“I’m very pleased with my season. I could take a few wins but the fact that I was very consistent every week has satisfied me the most. This year was kind of a breakthrough year for me, on both the road and the track.”
“The win at the first track World Cup came as a absolute surprise for me. I wanted to go for a podium but getting on the top step was more like a dream to me. I know I am on good form lately but to take away gold at the first World Cup on my road to Rio was very welcome. It proves that I am on the right track and that all the hard work gets rewarded eventually.”
Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling
In 2015 the double Belgian road champion Jolien D’hoore will leave the Lotto Belisol Ladies team. After two years with Belgium’s top women’s team, D’hoore will ride for Rochelle Gilmore’s British registered Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling team. D’hoore will be the first ever Belgian to ride for the black and orange squad. Well known for this, Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling will support the 24-year-old from Gent, East Flanders, to focus primarily on her track ambitions, as well as develop her on the road. “I’m really happy to join Wiggle Honda in 2015,” Jolien said. “It was the right time to take the next step in my career to develop myself further next year. Wiggle Honda is one of the most professional women’s teams in the World and they even know who I am!! I was very honoured they wanted me to be a part of the team”
“Also the fact that Wiggle Honda supports my track ambitions is very important to me as my goal is the omnium in the 2016 Rio Olympics,” she added. “I hope to learn from the other very talented riders in the team and I’m convinced that we can go for the victory in every kind of race with this strong team. I’m extremely motivated for 2015 to defend the Wiggle Honda colours.”
“Jolien was one of the very first athletes I approached for 2015, she was someone I really wanted to sign at the end of 2013 and had to wait another season,” said Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling Managing Director Rochelle Gilmore. “Jolien had a very successful year with Lotto Belisol so I can imagine it was a very difficult decision for her to let go of her strong bond there.
“We have a lot to prove to Jolien, and we’re motivated to ensure she’s in the right place to continue consolidating her reputation as one of the fastest sprinters in the world.”
D’hoore who is going to combine track and road for the next two seasons states that the big difference to other teams is the staff. “First of all, the staff in general is what makes a difference to other teams. Rochelle has so much experience as a rider and as a manager and I’m sure that with her help I can make another step forward. Also our sports-director Egon van Kessel will play an important role in the team. Second of all, the equipment (Colnago bikes, DHB kit, High5..) it is the best there is. As a rider for Wiggle Honda we can perform in the best environment we can think of.”
Going into 2015 D’hoore has some high expectations for herself as she is somewhat disappointed with her string of second and third places – despite having achieved some massive wins last year. “Personally I want to replace all my 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th places of 2014 with victories in 2015. That would be great. Apart from that, I hope I can be a valuable member for the team. I am sure that with my talented team mates we can achieve some very nice results. I can learn a lot from them and together we can make each other stronger. I can’t wait to race with everyone and to give the other teams a hard time.”
Talking about personal goals, D’hoore is aiming for a podium in the Omnium event at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Jolien also hopes to become an Elite Road World Champion one day – targeting the World Championships in Richmond (2015) and Qatar (2016). Jolien’s short term goals are very clear; Gent-Wevelgem, Ronde van Gelderland, the Belgian Championships and La Course by le TDF are four races which are on top of her list of races she’s like to win in 2015. “In general I just want to win as many races as possible whenever I get the chance. If not, I want to help the team in the best possible way whenever I can. I am a sprinter with high cadence & high speed so, all the flatter races suit me. I want to improve my climbing skills but not so much that it takes away from my top end speed. I am convinced that one should work on what they’re good at. In my case, sprinting.”, says D’hoore
“To conclude; I hope to podium in a road World Cup event, to defend my Belgian titles on road and track, to medal at the Track World Championships in St. Quentin, to get a podium in La Course and to participate at the Road World Championships in Richmond. If I can achieve that, my season will be a great success. As a team, the season will be a success if we can continue to confirm that Wiggle Honda is one of the best teams in the World.”
Despite the fact that D’hoore still has a long and bright cycling future ahead, she is already looking ahead to a career after cycling. D’hoore (who loves to watch movies and spends a lot of time knitting) wants to “mean” something for cycling in general. “My dream is to work as a sport scientist and combine my cycling experience with science. I hope to help the stars for the future to realise their dreams like I am doing now. But let’s hope my career will last for another few years.”
