Dutchman Daan Hoeks has had a very good season for WPGA Amsterdam Racing Academy this year, with his first big UCI win the highlight.
The third year U23 is headed off to Italy for 2022 to finish his studies in Bologna, and is looking to try and attract the attention of an Italian team so he can keep riding next season.
I had a call with Daan in between the Carpathian Couriers Race and Giro della Friuli to get to know him better.
“Two years ago I had a bad crash and had to take some rest. 2020 was all about coming back to a decent level. I trained a lot over the last winter and it seems like I have managed to get better in terms of my level.”
Hoeks also received a big boost of confidence when he was called up by the national team for his first Nations Cup race, the l’Etoile d’Or, which came off the back of a good U23 Giro and U23 Nationals.
“I rode the Giro for the Zappi team and I feel people got to know me at that race. After that I did the Nationals and had a good day. That probably got me some attention, as the national coach was there, and I was selected for the Etoile d’Or.”
After a top result when Carpathian Couriers was a one-day race in 2020, Hoeks returned with a very strong WPGA team and won the second stage, and arguably bad luck cost him the GC too. He talked me through the race in terrific detail.
“The prologue was just 4km full gas. I’m an explosive rider so that effort suits me. I was third, and the entire team did well that day, so it was nice to know we were all in good shape. The first road stage was controlled by CT Friuli and on the second last climb, we really upped the pace and I attacked and made a split, and every guy from our team was in it. After that, we all took turns to attack since we had five guys in a group of fifteen or so. I was the guy who would do the sprint if it came to it, and it worked out like that and I won, but it was perfect teamwork. The last day, we knew we were one of the strongest teams and we had the leaders jersey. We let a small break go and controlled the race, and when Miholjevic (CT Friuli) attacked, we chased him with the Polish team. There was a crash at 3km to go and Bram Leerkes went down and broke four ribs. At 1.5km to go, there was some oil on the road and another crash happened and we all fell. This ruined our chances to go for the win. Maciejuk won the stage and with the bonus seconds, he took the GC and I ended 2nd overall. It was bad luck and maybe I could have won the GC, but it is what it is.”
As mentioned earlier, the Dutchman will move to Italy and spend his final year of U23 eligibility there, where he hopes to be able to find a team so he can continue racing while studying Business and Economics.
“I am going to the University of Bologna to study Business and Economics, and I hope to be able to race. Friuli is a lot more mountainous than Carpathian, with steep grades, so I am not sure it suits me but we shall see what we can do as a team.”
Looking at his strengths, Hoeks says he likes long, uphill sprints, but his light weight makes him more of a punchy sprinter than a pure bunch kick sort of rider.
“My strengths are long sprints, uphill preferably, or short climbs. I’m not a pure sprinter, but I have a good punch and I am not too heavy for a fast guy either. Weakness-wise, I’d say longer climbs. Last year and this year I took some big steps, and I hope to continue developing in 2022.”
He has made a point of working on his climbing, and said testing himself in Friuli would be very important to see if he has improved. With an unconfirmed calendar right now, setting race goals is impossible, so he chooses to focus on developmental goals for the remainder of 2021.
“I need to see my level on the climbs, I’d assume I have improved there since last year. I don’t have any special goals for the rest of the year, I just want to see how it goes. There is no clear calendar and due to Covid, things are always changing.”
Rather appropriately, since he is of course headed for Italy, he picked a fantastic Italian race as his dream pro win.
“I’d go with Strade Bianche. I love Italy and for me, there is something magical about that race. I love the sterrato roads, and I also like the finish, because I think with my punch it suits me.”
Daan Hoeks has a truly interesting story and I hope he can find a ride in Italy so we can see him continue to race in 2022. I wish him all the best and thank him for taking his time to speak with me after a very long day of travelling. You can find him on Instagram here.
U23 Cycling Zone 