Timo Roosen’s career at Team LottoNL-Jumbo is continually taking more shape. After having finished the Tour Down Under and the Three Days of West-Flanders, the young rider from Brabant (The Netherlands) started in Pais Vasco, as well as the Vuelta a Catalunya this past month. Read all about his races in part 4 of his diary: Timo between the big names.

“The past month I’ve had a taste of what being a pro is really like during Catalunya and Pais Vasco. I had two goals there: assisting a team leader as well as possible for the first time and getting better and stronger myself. 

“I have to admit that Pais Vasco was pretty tough. I wasn’t able to perform as well as I wanted to, and I secretly expected more from this race. Luckily I did finish the race, and that’s something I really wanted to do. There were so many climbers present that I was afraid that I would have to drop quickly. When that happens, you have a real problem and you might have to cycle alone for a 100 kilometers. I cycled a bit like a yo-yo. One moment, I was between the cars, the other I was in the back of the peloton. I did manage to position myself again during each descent.

“It’s amazing to be able to cycle between the world’s absolute best cyclists, though I don’t really look up to them. I obviously have a lot of respect for them, but I’m a World Tour cyclist as well now. If I’d spend my time looking up to those riders, I’d only be in the back of the peloton watching others. That would make no sense.

“In Catalunya, I mainly supported Wilco Kelderman, and Steven Kruijswijk a bit as well. He really had a free role. It was my job to keep Wilco out of the wind and position him in front of the peloton during climbs. Next to this, I was on water bottle duty and had to pick them up at the team car. I enjoy doing stuff like that! In one of the stages, the peloton split up right before Wilco and we had to get him back up there with the team. That took up a lot of energy. When I’d reached my max, I let myself drop to another group slowly so we could cycle to the finish together. We could all benefit from keeping up a bit of a fast pace, so we would be able to finish on time.

“In the past week I mainly was focusing on Today’s Amstel Gold Race. That’s the biggest Dutch race you can participate in as a cyclist. I've prepared myself as well as possible by doing a lot of “homework”. I’ve memorized each climb. I mostly just hope to catch the early breakaway, if I’m allowed and able to that is. I’m not going to fool myself about the finale, that’s for the big guns. For the time being, I’m happy to make it to the finish line.

“If I’m a bit doubtful about my capabilities as a cyclist, I can always look back on a good Tour of Zeeland Seaports for inspiration. That’s my best race so far since I’ve joined Team LottoNL-Jumbo. If echelons develop, like they did back then, I’m in my element no matter what else happens. I discovered by accident in Zeeland that I can go over the cobbles pretty fast. I’d never done that before and it might come in handy some time during Paris-Roubaix. In any case, I’m not afraid!”

*Timo's sponsors received this diary earlier in an exclusive newsletter.