Twenty-eight, they say, is an athlete’s prime age. It’s when they’re strongest, fastest and at the peak of their powers. That rule didn’t apply to Arvid de Kleijn, though. At 28, he was still living at home with his mother and father, and had not long ago given up his job as a part-time gymnastic teacher; inspired by both his parents who were gymnasts, he practised the sport himself until he was 14. “Once a week I’d have the kids aged 5-12, and then the older ladies aged 40-70, doing little games and small exercises with them. It was always fun,” the soon-to-be 31-year-old smiles.

As one of cycling’s late bloomers, De Kleijn has now left his childhood bedroom, and the local gymnastics club where he worked until 2020, because now the Tudor rider has established himself as one of the sport’s most feared sprinters, a winner of a Paris-Nice stage, Milano-Torino and a number of high-ranking races in the past two seasons. It is his belief that only the trident of Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan are ahead of him in terms of speed and potential. “In that group behind them, there’s 10 guys and I see myself as one of them. I think I have the speed to really battle against these guys, and my job is to close that gap to those three guys at the top,” he says.

This article was published by Rouleur in February 2025. You can read the full article here.