Chantal Van Den Broek-Blaak will remain until the conclusion of 2024 season.
The 32-year-old former world champion was set to retire in 2020 during the COVID-19 racing halt to be with her husband, former cyclist Lars van den Broek. However, upon reconsideration, she decided to continue chasing her dreams, indicating her husband was no longer suffering from burnout.
Sporting manager, Danny Stam said in a team statement, “Initially, we had hoped that Chantal would still ride the Tour de France this year, We were therefore surprised, but also very happy with her proposal to continue until the end of 2024. She is of great value within the team. There are few riders of her caliber to be found.”
Team management was enthusiastic about van den Broek-Blaak’s decision, and will support her should she decide to take a leave of absence during this time to start a family.
“In addition, she continuously thinks in the interests of the team, which makes her of great value. Last year she still managed to win Strade Bianche, which indicates the high level at which she still performs. We respect Chantal’s wish to have children. It is also a challenge to get her up to standard afterwards,” Stam continued.
Van den Broek-Blaak has her sights set on the inaugural Tour de France Femmes, among other races, and has the backing of the team management.
“My husband Lars had a burnout. That was a difficult time, because I wanted to be there for him and at the same time continue to train and race as well as possible,” said Van den Broek-Blaak. “But now, almost two years later, Lars has fully recovered and our life looks ‘normal’ again. I now notice that I am not done with the sport yet. I like top sport, I still like racing, I can still do it and I’m still at a good level.”
“The first Tour is special and I would like to experience it. Only I had the feeling more and more that I was not really done with it yet. The people close to me also started to notice,” she concluded.
