MARATHON SKATING – Former marathon skater Ingmar Berga (37) from Hoogeveen remains faithful to his sport. He will immediately become Peter de Vries’ assistant at the Jumbo Visma marathon team.
De Vries was Berga’s team leader for no less than nine years. At the end of last season, the Hoogevener was forced to put an end to his career because he continued to suffer from head pain after a fall from his bicycle.
“When I announced in January that I was going to stop, I told Jac Orie that I would like to do something for the team. We then looked at how we could best fulfill that and this great function was rolled out there,” Berga responds. .
Due to his wealth of experience and race savvy, the multiple Dutch champion on artificial ice thinks he will be a good addition to the De Vries team. “I am usually straight forward and say what I think. I like it when I can help the young boys to choose the right tactics and get good results. Top sport is great, but in the end it’s about one thing and that’s winning. I think we can definitely take steps in that.”
De Vries thinks it is ‘very good’ that Berga remains involved with the team. “This will be the tenth year that we will work together. We know each other very well and I am confident that we can strengthen both each other and the team.” The staff of the marathon team of Team Jumbo-Visma will remain intact with Diane Valkenburg as trainer and Bob Stoker as physiotherapist.
There are a few changes in the skating team compared to last season. Jorrit Bergsma and Arjen van Damme strengthen the ranks of Team Jumbo-Visma and take the places of Bart Hoolwerf who left for Team Reggeborgh and Berga who stopped.
At the end of January, Berga ended his marathon career after 18 seasons. He won twenty competitions on artificial ice, including the Dutch title in 2007 and 2012. The 37-year-old Hoogevener also won the final classification of the KNSB Cup on artificial ice in 2016. He also won the Dutch Open title twice on the natural ice of the Weissensee in Austria. That happened in 2014 and 2017.