Former professional rider Laurens ten Dam will become the new Dutch women's national road coach from January 1 2025, the country's KNWU federation announced on Thursday.
After a successful stint as the national gravel coach, which saw the Netherlands net both world titles in Leuven through Mathieu van der Poel and Marianne Vos, Ten Dam will replace the retiring Loes Gunnewijk, who has served as national coach since 2019.
“During my work as national coach for gravel, I noticed that I really missed performing at the highest top sport level - working together with a group towards the major tournaments such as a World Championships," said Ten Dam in a KNWU release.
"As an experienced expert, I am entering this adventure without any prejudices and that is how I want to work with the athletes. They have to be able to rely on me and I expect the same in return.
"It is really about forging a team with a clear mission. There is a lot of talent within Dutch women's cycling, so I am convinced that we are going to have some very good years ahead of us!"
The Dutch women's team has received widespread criticism for their tactics in recent seasons under Gunnewijk's watch, with their breadth of leaders often ending up as a hindrance. Ten Dam knows it will be no easy feat managing the women in orange, given there is so much pressure on them to perform.
"My advantage is that I have no past with the riders at all. So I am very objective about it. That is perhaps also one of the reasons that they asked me. I realize very well that there is still some talking to be done here and there," said Ten Dam to Algemeen Dagblad.
"I can't really judge past failures. But it's clear that I don't want any bickering. That starts with honesty. We're going to make very clear agreements about everyone's role in a race. You have to agree on that."
"Being a national coach is a difficult task. As the Netherlands, we have a great group of riders. We have to take advantage of that," said the 43-year-old.
"But it is no longer a 'fill-in exercise' that the Dutch women always win everything. The sport has changed. There are also women riding in the front wearing other [nations'] jerseys. That is only good for the sport.
"But as I said: we have a lot of good riders. If there is a group of thirty left at a World Championship, there are normally nine Dutch women in it."
"I will definitely have to be tough, yes. That is part of this job. But I will not pretend to be someone else. I like a good atmosphere and that is the basis for success. And winning also helps, right? The best atmosphere is created when a lot is won," he said.
"Being a national coach is a difficult task. You only see the women a few times a year. They compete against each other the entire season and suddenly they are teammates in orange. It is therefore difficult to really form a group, but I think I can do it."
