This is my third year with Boels-Dolmans. Every year I felt like I’ve gotten stronger but then I would have a setback. I broke my arm in 8 places in my first year with the team. It happened the week before nationals, something that was important to us. The next year – in the same week – I broke my pelvis.
The first injury with my arm wasn’t so hard to deal with because after a week I could go on the home trainer but breaking my pelvis last year, to have a big injury for the second year in a row was tougher to deal with. I crashed in the Women’s Tour after not having a great spring. It quickly became a season to forget. I had to lay down for 7 weeks. I could not walk, I couldn’t do anything, and my muscles lost their strength.
I had to start from zero and that was frustrating. The build back up to strength was hard because it felt endless.
At the team training camp in December last year I started feeling like myself again. The team was so great at believing in me. It really took the pressure off me and gave me some confidence. They kept telling me how good I am.
Jip van den Bos (NED) leads onto the cobbles at Le Samyn des Dames 2019,Photo by Sean Robinson/velofocus.com 
Yesterday’s victory in Le Samyn is my first pro win. All these hardships from the last two years is why it’s so special.
In the morning, our DS Danny Stam said “Jip, this is a day for you, this is a day for you.”
On the second last lap, there were several attacks. I went with some and Chantal also jumped onto some. It became clear very quickly that the peloton wouldn’t let Chantal go after her victory in Omloop last weekend and just being one of the strongest women in the peloton. I’m a little more unknown so when I went, they gave me some space. I eventually got away with a group and almost all the teams were represented so the peloton was happy to let it go. On the last lap, I was in a bit of doubt, “should I wait for a sprint or should I attack?”
I talked with Danny in the car behind and he told me if I felt good, I should go on the climb. I went as fast as I could and when I got to the top of the climb, I had a gap, so I had to keep going until I couldn’t anymore. It was around 6 kilometres to the finish line. In the last 3 kilometres, there was a cobbled section and after it I saw I had more than 30 seconds so I was hoping they would start looking at each other behind. Only in the last 500m did I believe I would win. When I crossed the line, the emotions were overflowing. I went through so many moments last year where I asked myself if I still like cycling.
When you win something, you realise why you kept going through the tough days. The girls in the team know what I’ve been through and that I’m a team player, so they were really happy for me. Seeing them so happy for me meant a lot to me, it makes the victory so much better.
I’ve learnt something interesting about winning a bike race. Your phone blows up. I still haven’t responded to a lot of people, there are just so many messages. I don’t know how riders like Chantal and Anna who win all the time do it. Going through all the messages is a fulltime job.
I’d like to thank my teammates who supported me through the winter. They gave me so much advice and taught me their secrets. I learnt so much from them and I wouldn’t be here without them. I’m off to Italy now for Strade Bianche with a big smile still on my face.
Photography: Sean Robinson/Velofocus
Tags: boels dolmans, sram, women's cycling Last modified: Jan 19, 2020
