Jeroen Meijers wants to race in Asia again soon, but now enjoys in ZLM Tour

“That certainly takes some getting used to,” says Meijers with a laugh. “Many more barriers, central reservations. A lot more turning on and a lot of twisting and turning. And narrow roads. It takes a while to adjust, but I like it. In Asia we cycle a lot straight ahead. On three lane roads. That is of course quite boring. Here you have to constantly pay attention. If you have this every week you might get tired of it too, but for now I like it again.”

In 2019 Meijers made the switch to Asia, where he rode for two years for the Chinese team Miogee Cycling Team. Due to corona, his time there stopped, but a new adventure was found in Malaysia. As a cyclist he had to adapt a lot. “The peloton is often much smaller, you really have to participate. If there are two hundred people at the start, you can say: I’m just riding along. Not there. And it’s a lot wetter and a lot warmer. I’ve had matches where I was completely broken, but in terms of wattage it made no sense. But I just couldn’t go any harder. That is also a challenge. You have to ride a lot by feel.”

In addition to cycling, it is also a great adventure for Meijers. “The first year I thought: what am I going to do here? It was so different, I also had the ambition to ride at a professional level here in Europe. I had the feeling: what am I doing here? That changed over the course of the year. It’s really very beautiful. Less stress, you are more of an adventurer.”

“If you come to a large metropolitan city, you should go for a walk in the evening. Here you lie on the bed, then you see nothing else. Now I have been to many places in China that you would otherwise never visit. It is of course not a holiday, but you do see a lot and experience other cultures. It is completely different from here.”

As a rider, Meijers used to be able to ride well in Limburg and the Ardennes, but that is of little use to him in Asia. “Only in Japan actually. The rest is flat or very long uphill. Those men there are all 1.65/1.70, so they don’t weigh that much. I’m not the best climber there. I should actually have a race with a bit of chaos, then I can get ahead.”

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Meijers, who rode for the Rabobank Development Team and Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij in the past, has not yet been able to really show himself in the service of Terengganu Cycling Team. “In recent years there have been much fewer competitions in Asia than in Europe. Those countries were really locked up. It is now starting to open up a bit. But there was very little in the past two years. Then we did a race in Turkey “, but then nothing for two months. At the beginning of this year we had quite a few races, but then I got corona myself and so I was able to drive very little.”

His focus is now on prices from July onwards. First racing in Turkey, then he goes to Asia. “In September and October it will be possible again in Asia. Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan. It is still a question of who they send where.”

And now in the Netherlands, where he participates in the ZLM Tour with Team NL – the national selection. “I’m cycling some criteriums. And then there was the chance to participate here. The level is quite high. And that’s good for the hardness in the legs, that’s hard to train. And it’s also just real It’s nice,” says Meijers, who is looking forward to racing in Asia again and showing himself there like in his first year. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a long time, too long ago. I feel like going there again. I’m very comfortable there, so I don’t see any reason to move for the time being.”

Meijers can be seen on Saturday in the fourth stage of the ZLM Tour, which starts in Rucphen and ends in Mierlo. The match can be seen live on Omroep Brabant from 15.35.