Zonneveld calls criticized Rabobank project 'groundbreaking' in hindsight: "It yielded a lot"

For a period of seventeen years, Rabobank invested a hefty sum in cycling, with its own team and a development team. The goal was to win the Tour de France with a Dutch rider trained within their system. Although this ultimately didn’t happen, cycling journalist Thijs Zonneveld, in an interview with Wielerrevue, looks back on the Rabobank era with nostalgia.

There are numerous examples of riders who progressed to the professional level through Rabobank’s development team. Think of Bauke Mollema, Wilco Kelderman, Dylan van Baarle, Robert Gesink, Steven Kruijswijk, and even Tom Dumoulin, who rode for the team for a season. Dutch cycling still reaps the benefits of Rabobank’s investments in the sport.

However, that prosperous period is gradually coming to an end. Fewer major Dutch talents have emerged recently, meaning there isn’t an immediate follow-up generation for the successful group now in the twilight of their careers. Zonneveld has noted this too, previously sounding the alarm about the state of Dutch cycling.

According to him, Dutch cycling fans may be entering a lean period for top performances from Dutch riders. "In the last ten years, we have been incredibly spoiled in the Netherlands, and we don’t realize it enough. There’s hardly any succession. Maybe Tijmen Graat, who performed well in the Tour de l’Avenir. But they’re mostly individuals, whereas the last decade saw a consistent structure."

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Zonneveld: "He was just riding on the bike path..."

"In every grand tour, there was a Dutch rider in the top ten, sometimes even two or three,' Zonneveld reflects on a period of success. "Some of it was luck, but it was also due to Rabobank's development program, which aimed to create a Dutch Tour de France winner. That didn’t happen, but it did produce many strong cyclists. The plan was criticized at the time, but looking back now, it achieved a lot and was truly groundbreaking," Zonneveld recalls nostalgically.

The Netherlands is often praised internationally for its cycling culture, but according to Zonneveld, that culture is also slowly breaking down. The number of cycling races is gradually decreasing, especially due to a lack of motorbike riders with the required licenses. Additionally, young people are feeling less drawn to road cycling. "In a way, we're now paying the price for having fewer races, fewer licensed riders, and for the general image of cyclists in our country."

Zonneveld then provides an example of how the average citizen perceives cyclists. "Recently, there was a cyclist riding on a bike path when a cow got startled and got tangled up somewhere. The farmer's wife gave a sad story, and everyone started complaining about cyclists. I thought: what exactly did that cyclist do wrong? He was just riding on the bike path… Seriously, guys. Especially since COVID, it seems trendy to hate everyone in cycling gear."