{"id":483476,"date":"2026-02-16T10:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483476\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T10:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:27:10","slug":"the-work-is-still-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483476\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe work is still the same\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday marks the start of a new season for Daan Hoole<\/a>, as he lines up at the UAE Tour. The opening day will likely feel a little strange: for the first time, the tall Dutchman will be wearing the colours of Decathlon CMA-CGM, after a strong spell with Lidl-Trek<\/a>. IDLProcycling.com spoke with Hoole ahead of his first race for the team.<\/p>\n

Hoole didn\u2019t just change teams this winter \u2014 he also moved home. He now lives in Monaco, where the weather is a touch kinder for cyclists (and, as he joked, for Formula 1 drivers and badminton players too) than it is back in Zuidland. A bonus: he can also polish up his French just by living there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going well with the team,\u201d he said at Decathlon\u2019s January training camp. \u201cIt\u2019s different, but in a way the work is obviously still the same: you\u2019re still a cyclist and you still have to train well, eat well and recover well. The biggest difference is that you have to get to know a lot of new people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whenever a rider changes teams, the obvious question follows: what\u2019s the main difference? \u201cAt Lidl-Trek you had a lot of Italian influence, which is a really fun culture, while here it\u2019s more French,\u201d Hoole explained. \u201cAlthough I have to say it\u2019s also pretty international, especially among the sports directors. So you get used to it quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

In December, IDLProcycling.com spoke with Mads Pedersen and sports director Steven de Jongh, and both said how much they regretted losing \u201cDaantje\u201d at Lidl-Trek. \u201cThat\u2019s nice to hear \u2014 that they appreciate me like that,\u201d Hoole said. \u201cOn the one hand it was also a shame to leave, because I had a really good connection with everyone and had built up a lot of friendships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"lidl<\/p>\n

Hoole up front for Lidl-Trek: a familiar face.<\/p>\n

Hoole was at a crossroads for a long time<\/p>\n

Hoole didn\u2019t take the decision lightly. \u201cI stood at a crossroads for a long time and it definitely wasn\u2019t an easy choice,\u201d he admitted. \u201cEven after I made the choice, I still had doubts at times. I\u2019d decided before the Giro, but then we suddenly won six stages and I won that time trial. That was the best race I\u2019ve ridden so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what ultimately <\/a>made him commit to the move? \u201cIt just seemed fun to start this project with Olav, Cees and Robbe, and the freedom I was offered in the Classics appealed to me,\u201d Hoole said. \u201cOn top of that, I also got the right opportunities in time trials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kooij \u2014 unfortunately not racing the UAE Tour \u2014 and Hoole have known each other for a long time. \u201cI always rode with Roel van Sintmaartensdijk, and he\u2019s one of Olav\u2019s best friends,\u201d Hoole explained. \u201cWe never raced together as first-years and juniors because there\u2019s three years between us. But with the U23s we did World Championships together, and the same at elite level. We\u2019re also from the same area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Character-wise, Hoole says his new sprint leader is very different from his former leader Jonathan Milan. \u201cOlav doesn\u2019t get rattled easily \u2014 that\u2019s different to Milan,\u201d he smiled, backing up the contrast between the laid-back Dutchman and the more extroverted Italian.<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"daan-hoole-2\"\/<\/p>\n

Daan Hoole for his new team.<\/p>\n

Hoole can chase spring chances alongside riders like Benoot<\/p>\n

Hoole also made it clear he expects more freedom at his new team. What does that look like in an ideal scenario? \u201cThe spring is very different,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a domestique it doesn\u2019t matter if you burn more energy, because you\u2019re naturally focused on where Mads and Jasper are. Of course we also have several strong riders now and it won\u2019t all be for me, but at Lidl-Trek it was more about the absolute leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year I was already allowed to ride a bit more in the finale, and I really liked that,\u201d Hoole continued. \u201cIn the Tour of Flanders, with the climbs, it\u2019s very difficult, but in Roubaix I think I can get quite far. Last year we were sprinting for a top ten and I finished 17th, but before that I\u2019d spent a long time on the front for Mads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"daan<\/p>\n

Daan Hoole in the Forest of Wallers.<\/p>\n

Hoole set for first Tour de France appearance<\/p>\n

We may also see Hoole in races like the Baloise Belgium Tour and the Renewi Tour. \u201cIf there\u2019s a time trial, I\u2019ll try to ride for the general classification as well,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s something Paul Barrett is responsible for at Decathlon, and they\u2019re really working on it within the team. If I reach the level I had last year, I could be in the mix for wins again. That would be really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

To help that process, Hoole has already spent time on the track to fine-tune details. \u201cImproving aerodynamics is very difficult, because regulations bind you,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut in terms of training I can still improve. That\u2019s worked every year, and that\u2019s the line I want to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s another big upside: after his reliable work in the Giro and Vuelta, we should normally see Hoole riding the Tour de France for the first time this year. So in July 2026, the tall Dutchman won\u2019t have time for badminton anymore. \u201cI\u2019ve done the Giro and the Vuelta now, so it\u2019s logical that you really look forward to that first Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monday marks the start of a new season for Daan Hoole, as he lines up at the UAE…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,245016,221838,172195,49602,89289,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-483476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-daan-hoole","12":"tag-decathlon-cma-cgm","13":"tag-idl-productions","14":"tag-lidl-trek","15":"tag-olav-kooij","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}