At Q36.5, Bax is no longer a domestique: "At UAE, I only wanted to reach the team bus as quickly as possible"

It was a dream come true for Sjoerd Bax: going from riding for a continental team to joining the best team in the world in just over a year. But most dreams aren’t what they seem, and after two years with UAE Team Emirates, the Dutchman opted for a new adventure. A step down in team rankings, but at Q36.5 Pro Cycling, he now gets to ride for his own chances.

At his former team, he worked alongside the phenomenon Tadej Pogacar. "I didn’t actually ride very many races with him," Bax tells Dutch website cyclingonline.nl. "In general, I can say it’s very pleasant to race and work with him. You know beforehand that if he’s at the start, there’s about a 95 percent chance of winning. And the whole peloton kind of accepts that in advance. As a team, you often have to control the race because of this, but it’s also something that commands respect. When I went to fetch bottles from the team car, the peloton always made way for me to move back up to the front with that jersey on my shoulders."

But that was also the catch for the 28-year-old, who specializes in hilly races. "Maybe it’s partly my own personality, that I never pushed back when I was asked to work for others early in a race or ride at the front as the first, second or third man. But I didn’t get any more chances to win myself. Even though I made the most of the one chance I did have in 2023 for the team. Winning is just so normal at this team, and there are so many good riders that it’s hard to get opportunities of your own. And that’s what I wanted again."

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Sjoerd Bax won the Trofeo Matteotti in 2023

Bax focuses on classics and time trials: "Becoming Dutch champion is a goal"

And so Bax chose a new adventure. His departure was surprisingly hard for his team. "There were a lot of team leaders who said they were sorry to see me go, precisely because I was so reliable and worked hard. But I had already decided in the spring that I didn’t want to continue like this. Before a race, I wasn’t looking up how the finale would play out anymore. I was checking the quickest way to get to the team bus after finishing my work."

At Q36.5 Pro Cycling, the Dutchman joins a team with some familiar faces. In 2022, he had already been set to sign with Qhubeka, Doug Ryder’s team. That team folded, but now the South African has a new team, where Bax will ride and aim for his own success. "I want to focus on one-day races like the Amstel Gold Race or Strade Bianche, or races just a level below. I also want to put more energy into my time trials. Becoming Dutch champion is a goal of mine, and it could also be an asset for stage races."

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