Gesink shares bizarre stories about old teammates and talks doping crossroads: "I didn't see much changing"

In his early days racing for Rabobank, two big personalities stood out: Denis Menchov and Oscar Freire. Gesink shared an unexpected story about Menchov. "Menchov always said he could have one cigarette a day until the January training camp. He’d be out on the balcony smoking. That’s the kind of world we came from in this sport, haha." He also had a story about Freire, who was known for his quirks. "Freire would train for two days at camp, but by the third day, he’d be complaining about his knee. Then we’d get back from training, and there he’d be, playing tennis with the hotel waiter or someone else."

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Known for his strong anti-doping stance, Gesink entered the cycling world at a time when banned substances were still very much around. Everywhere. In 2008, he got his break with a fourth-place finish at La Flèche Wallonne, beating his team leader Thomas Dekker. "He was the star that day. I can imagine that shook things up within the team." This fast rise brought Gesink face-to-face with the tough choice every cyclist faced back then: do I stay clean, or do I dope to reach the top?

"I was pretty uncertain about the future back then. I didn’t want to go down that path, but I didn’t see much changing. There were still all these performances that didn’t make sense. I thought, where is this all heading? But I never seriously considered doping because someone like my coach, Louis Delahaye, made it clear we weren’t going there. He had a very firm view. I’m proud of how I went through my career. But I did think back then: if I keep doing it this way, I might not reach everything I want to."