{"id":223870,"date":"2025-10-19T05:17:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T05:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/223870\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T05:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T05:17:07","slug":"two-more-stages-then-im-free-timo-de-jong-wins-in-holland-and-attracts-attention-of-world-tour-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/223870\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTwo more stages then I\u2019m free\u201d \u2013 Timo de Jong wins in Holland and attracts attention of World Tour teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tour of Holland returned to the road on Saturday for
\nstage 4, and it was Dutch rider Timo de Jong<\/a> who seized the moment. The
\nVolkerWessels Continental rider claimed his first professional victory after
\noutsmarting bigger names in a selective finale. It was a result that carried
\nboth relief and disbelief for the 25-year-old, who is expected to move to Team Picnic PostNL<\/a> in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought: two more stages to go, then I\u2019m free,\u201d he
\nadmitted afterward to In de Leiderstrui. \u201cI knew they were coming, and from the
\nmoment they joined me, I knew I didn\u2019t have to do anything. They\u2019re the big
\nnames; they have to pull. I was able to follow. Kubis accelerated on the
\ncobblestones, but I was able to follow. That\u2019s when I knew my legs were still good.
\nThen it was full throttle to the finish. Luckily, no one else could pass me.\u201d<\/p>\n

De Jong held off Christophe Laporte<\/a> and Lukas Kubis in a
\nsmall-group sprint to deliver the most significant result of his career so far.
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t think I could win, I thought I\u2019d be in the top three,\u201d he said. \u201cBut
\nwinning is different, of course.\u201d The victory, his first at professional level,
\ncarried extra meaning given the location. \u201cIt\u2019s very special, especially
\nbecause it\u2019s in the Netherlands, and winning a professional race is fantastic.
\nIf you can win here, it\u2019s fantastic, especially because your family is there
\nwith you.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After four stages, De Jong sits seventh overall, 90 seconds
\nbehind Laporte. His surprise triumph adds to a solid season for VolkerWessels
\nand hints at his readiness to step up to a higher tier. Rumors of his transfer
\nto Picnic PostNL suggest that his development will continue closer to home in
\n2026, something the rider was careful not to confirm. \u201cI hope so. I\u2019m not going
\nto say anything about it,\u201d he said with a smile.<\/p>\n

For all his emerging stature, De Jong\u2019s story remains
\ngrounded. Away from the peloton, he still spends part of his week at a local
\nbike shop. \u201cI still work a few days a week at VeloSport in Middelburg. I get
\nall the support I need there, and they\u2019re also thrilled that I\u2019m racing at this
\nlevel. I\u2019ve already learned a lot and had some great experiences at Picnic
\nPostNL, so I\u2019m happy to be able to wrap it up this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

His approach to victory was as pragmatic as his lifestyle.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s quite special, yes. When they joined me, I stopped riding. I was only
\nhere for that stage. If I had ridden, my team manager would have told me,\u201d the
\nwinner laughed. \u201cAfter tea, there\u2019ll probably be a beer tonight, or a glass of
\nred wine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tour of Holland returned to the road on Saturday for stage 4, and it was Dutch rider…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-223870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}