When Dutch rider Maike van der Duin first jumped into the professional peloton in 2023 as a 21-year-old she wasted no time in making her mark, taking to the podium at Women's WorldTour events from Ronde van Drenthe, Gent Wevelgem and RideLondon Classique during the opening months of her career.
It has, however, been far harder to find a place on those steps since. First an ankle injury and personal loss stymied her 2024 season, with her road race podium exploits limited to a third on stage 3 of Vuelta a Burgos, and things didn't get easier in 2025.
After a run of DNF's, last year's season ended in June with the rider having struggled with her health for some time. Later that year the road and track cyclist, who won bronze on the boards at the Paris Olympics, discovered the reason why, she had been grappling with systemic inflammation.
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Still, by working back to fitness step-by-step, after nine months away from racing Van der Buin was able to rejoin the fray in 2026.
“I’ve already felt really good in the last months, and every week I’m getting a little better. I was on a kind-of training camp last week in Spain, and I’ve felt really good from that, but it’s also hasn’t been very often that I’ve gotten opportunities this year," said Van der Buin in a team statement.
That, however, changed on Friday on stage 2 of the Baloise Ladies Tour when teammate Zoe Bäckstedt, who was leading the race, launched from a stretched out bunch at 300m to go.
“To be fair, it was not really the plan and I was a bit boxed in, but Zoe went really early, I think to be out of the chaos," said Van der Duin. "Because she went so early, a gap opened and the speed was so high that I followed her in case she couldn’t hold on. I told her to continue and I also gave everything until the finish."
There was some disappointment initially at missing the win, which was taken by Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech) who also moved ahead of Bäckstedt on GC, but it didn't take long till a different perspective filtered through.
"It worked out well in the end, but it’s a bit emotional because I’ve come from a really low point, so this is a nice reward for the last year," said Van der Duin. "I was thinking that I couldn’t do this sport anymore.”
Now, however, the 24-year-old has just captured her first road podium in 790 days, with the last being the 2024 podium spot at Vuelta a Burgos, and is part of a squad that is fighting for another overall victory at the Baloise Belgium Tour with Bäckstedt. The defending champion, who crossed the line in sixth on stage 2, is just five seconds back from Kool with an 8.3km time trial and 106km road stage ahead on Saturday, and then on Sunday it is a last 111.8km battle to decide the race.
