NOS Cycling•
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Rens Went
cycling editor
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Rens Went
cycling editor
Mollema is aiming for Amstel Gold and hopes for Lombardy as the last race: ‘Nice farewell’
For a long time people doubted whether it was possible, but now time has really struck Bauke Mollema. The cyclist is “almost 40”, he says several times, and so ‘Bau’ will retire at the end of this season. “It is becoming increasingly difficult physically. Mentally too.”
The plan is that he will start in San Sebastian and the Tour of Lombardy. For the time being, he will also ride Strade Bianche and the Amstel Gold Race next spring. “Still in the Netherlands,” he says from Spain, where he starts his last season on Wednesday.
Mollema already knew four years ago, when he extended his contract with Lidl-Trek, that 2026 would be his last season.
“Cycling is becoming increasingly difficult and it is not as easy for me as it was ten or fifteen years ago. I will be 40 at the end of the year. Then it will be nice.”
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2007: Mollema as winner of the Tour de l’Avenir -
Then they will praise him for his victories in the Tour of Lombardy and San Sebastian, but also for the Tour of ‘Bau en Lau’, his two Tour stage victories and the one in the Vuelta. Mollema smashed through the peloton for twenty seasons.
“I saw some old photos and videos today, it was a very different time. Cycling has changed enormously. The world has changed. And of course you have changed too. When I started this 20 years ago, I knew nothing about cycling and life.”
Cycling is exhausting, he now knows. Physically and mentally. “You have done this for almost 20 years. Then there comes a time when you start thinking more about the future: what do I want to do next? I am proud of my long career, but I also have a family at home and I am almost 40. Then there are many other things in life.”
Mollema, ‘almost 40’, starts the last cycling season: ‘Many other things in life’
Will he have to leave Monaco, where Mollema has been living for ten years? “I don’t have to do anything.” But: “I am now so used to the nice weather… We will think carefully about this at home about what is best for everyone.”
There is no urge for the Groningen cold, where his love for cycling gripped him, cycling through the wind to school between the meadows and in his newspaper district.
“I didn’t miss this winter in the Netherlands. I have been away for fifteen years. That was also beneficial for my career, not much in bad weather and cold. A lot more pleasant for the body and the head.”
Mollema does not yet know what he will do in his cycling pension. “I’ll see what comes my way. But in any case I have no ambition to become a team leader or to travel with a team all year round. But cycling remains my passion, so it would be crazy if I did nothing with 20 years of knowledge in the sport.”
Fluttering shirt
In two decades on the bike, Mollema saw the course and the peloton change. “Certainly in the last five to ten years, the level has become so much higher. And the work is now much more professional. I still wore shirts that fluttered.”
“You can’t keep up with the level I had at the age of 24 these days. Many more riders in their early twenties already have a super high level. In my time you were brought much slower.”
Mollema: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if today’s young riders don’t have careers lasting 20 years’
On the other hand, “It was more relaxed at the beginning of my career. Perhaps that also helped the fact that I am still a professional. It would not surprise me if today’s young riders do not have a career of 20 years.”
After all these years, being away from home often became the biggest burden lately. “Especially with a family, three children at home.” He will soon long for racing itself. “That adrenaline. To a finish in the final. All the hectic pace. I might miss that.”
When will Mollema get on his bike for the very last time? “I hope the Tour of Lombardy. That seems like a nice farewell.”
Bauke’s tour (2013)
Worth a look
