Of course Evert Scheltinga, Multiple National Champion Long Distance, will race CHALLENGEALMERE-AMSTERDAM again this year. With ambitions, because he is aiming for a place on the podium and, to be honest, he is hoping to win the race. “Two years ago I became fifth, last year I became fourth, so this year I actually want a podium place anyway.”
Participating in CHALLENGEALMERE-AMSTERDAM was certainly not a big question for Scheltinga. “The European Championship is important, the National Championship is also nice and besides: this is the biggest race in The Netherlands. I don’t know yet who is racing in Almere, but when I compete I prefer to win and I’m going to give it my all.”
Last week Scheltinga rode – during a training – 180 kilometers on the bike course. He came back with an average speed of 36 kilometres per hour, after ‘just a relaxed ride’. “A nice endurance ride without tempo blocks”, he laughs. “It’s going very well with me, so I’m very happy with this. I notice that I become stronger every week and of course this is a very nice feeling.”
Scheltinga always enjoys the race in Almere, but also let us know that the bike course is always ‘challenging’. “Normally there are a lot of corners in a course, but here there are at most twenty. There is never a relaxing moment, you have to push all the way and there is a constant pressure on the legs. This makes it heavy, but also very cool.”