Ladies Quinty Van de Guchte on her spring season: "Tough, but I have learned a lot"

The past few weeks Quinty Van de Guchte road her first spring classics: "It was a dream come true."
General 26 April 2023

 

Quinty Van de Guchte lived a childhood dream in the past few weeks. With Lotto Dstny, she had a blast in the spring classics. "This year, I made my debut in the elite peloton," says the Dutch cyclist. "As a child, I used to watch those races, now I was able to ride a Monument like the Tour of Flanders myself. I am really looking forward to the rest of the season."

As a child, Quinty Van de Guchte was a sports enthusiast and experimented with different sports. Cycling eventually won her heart and at the age of 14, she rode her first race: "In the early years, I didn't take it all that seriously. I just wanted to have fun on my bike. From the second year with the juniors, cycling became more important, and I began to live for it."

Although the Dutch cyclist had long dreamed of making the switch to the elite peloton, she held off for a few years: "I thought it was important to get a diploma first. Studying was my priority. When I received my Chemistry diploma last year, I decided to pursue my dream."

She succeeded after some good results, which earned her a contract with Lotto Dstny. "I now have the opportunity to further develop myself within a fantastic team with a great program and strong support."



This spring, Van de Guchte participated in a few classics such as Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders, and the Brabantse Pijl, races that had long been on her wish list: "I love tough races. I like to suffer on my bike, and in these races, I really came into my own. Hills, cobbles, and bad weather, it was painful in these mythical races. At the start of the season, I said I wanted to focus on the spring. The team fully supported me in that. Together with my coach, I drew up a training program to prepare myself as well as possible. I've been renting an apartment in the Flemish Ardennes for a few years now, so I could prepare perfectly for these races."

The Dutch cyclist looks back on her first spring in the pro peloton with a satisfied feeling. "In one word: it was fantastic. I enjoyed every moment. It was tough, but I didn't expect anything else. The main goal was to learn a lot this year and gain insight into the tactics needed to add such a race to your palmares. This was a good learning experience, and I'm convinced that this experience will come in handy in the future. I can now prepare even better for these races, and hopefully, that will bring me some great results next year."

The cyclist from Zeeland is only in her first year in the elite peloton and does not want to skip any steps in her development. "At Lotto Dstny, I find the perfect environment to further progress. I've already learned a lot here, and I'm sure there's still plenty of room for growth within this team. Here, I can continue to develop my career. The team is also strongly connected. We support each other and wish each other a great result."

As a child, the Dutch cyclist dreamed of the Flemish races, but in recent months, the Lotto Dstny rider also discovered her climbing legs. "So in the future, I don't just want to focus on races like the Tour of Flanders, but also on Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It would be nice to play an important role in these races, to fight for the podium and who knows: someday add them to my palmares. That is the ultimate dream.”

Images: Facepeeters

In this article