Maya Kingma makes the switch from the triathlon to cycling. The 29-year-old Breda has signed a contract with the American professional team EF Education-Oatly and can already participate in the Giro d’Italia from 6 July. “When cycling on the road there are so many different types of races and tactics play a much greater role. Those are the parts of racing that I really love.”
Kingma participated twice in the Olympic Games. In 2021 she became fourth and individual eleventh with the mixed relay. Last year in Paris she finished seventh individually and tenth with the mixed relay team. In her career she finished several times in the top ten of a world championship.
Yet she stops as a triathlete and chooses the bike. “I have been doing triathlon for a long time. I would like to have more hills and a changing dynamic. The switch to cycling on the road has always been in the back of my mind,” she says on the website of her new employer.
“The confidence of the team is a big boost and that makes me very enthusiastic.”
During the Giro d’Italia she was immediately admitted to the American team. “There is no busy. I am used to major events. The trust of the team is a big boost and that makes me very enthusiastic.”
A cycling round like the Giro d’Italia is very different from a triathlon. “When cycling you have racing for several days in a row and with the triathlon we don’t have that. We have one big racing day and sometimes a second one on which you travel a much shorter distance as a team relay. I think that is the biggest difference, but I am an endurance athlete, so it will be fine.”
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Manager Esra Tromp is pleased with the arrival of the Breda. “I invited her to our training camp in January and she immediately made a great impression on me. I got a clear picture of who she is, what her mentality is and what she can mean for the team.”
“We have a young team and we have riders who can learn a lot from an athlete like Maya, even though she comes from another sport. In addition, I think this year will be a big adventure for both of us. Her level of fitness is super high and I am very curious what we can discover.”