A professional rider since the mid-2000s, Laurens ten Dam has enjoyed a career spanning two decades and seen all the highs and lows of life on the road one can imagine. Now 37, the Team Sunweb rider has no intention of stopping, but in an exclusive interview with Cyclingnews takes a personal and in-depth look back at his career and the five races that shaped his life.
Junior National Championships - 1998
I started cycling quite late, at around the age of 15, but the junior crit scene in Holland wasn't my thing. At that time, most of the racing for that age group was all about 1km loops, sprinting out of corners and just from looking at my body type you could tell I wasn't suited to it. I still loved riding my bike and even back then I was logging 20 hours a week in training. I'd finish school at 3pm and then do five-hour rides in the dark because my coach instilled in me that I needed at least one really long ride per week. I'd always do the long rides alone and I remember that I had a front light but the battery would only last two hours, so I'd be riding along and only turn it on if and when I saw cars coming.
As you know, I'm from Holland and it's pretty flat there. In 1998, however, the National Championships were out in the hills and out of nothing I ended up with third on the podium, behind two Rabobank guys. That was probably the moment when I realized that I could climb and after that point an amateur team took me on board. I was 17 and I remember the two guys who finished ahead of me. Neither turned pro and I think that fourth and fifth were also Rabobank and didn't turn professional. I was racing for my regional team and it put me in the spotlight.
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For those championships, my family and I set off a few days before the championships so that we could be closer to the race. I stuffed my face with food the day before and I think it was one of the best days I've ever had on the bike. I was closing gaps on the hills and in the end, there were three of us left. The two Rabobank riders played with me in the finish, but they were teammates, and in the end, they took the first two steps on the podium.
That night, my coach, who sadly died two years later from cancer, ordered champagne in the restaurant and it was a beautiful moment. He'd trained me and was immensely proud of what I'd achieved. I remember thinking that I'd really paid him back for his support. When we went back to our hotel I ran to the payphone to call my girlfriend. This was before mobile phones, and although we'd only been seeing each other for a few months, I was desperate to call her. She didn't know shit about cycling but I called up and said, 'Hey, I've just finished third at the National Championships.' She just said 'Oh good for you. When are you home?' The thing is we're still together now and we got married, but that story always makes me smile when I think about it.
Tour of Germany - 2007
By now I was in my fourth year as a professional rider and I was riding for the Unibet team. I'd done a good race in May at the Tour of Catalunya and finished inside the top ten in the overall classification. At that point in my career, despite being a pro rider for three years, the biggest hill I'd done was at the Tour of Luxembourg, so I wasn't what you'd say a mountain specialist. In the background at that time Unibet had been scheduled to do the Tour de France but we'd been flicked by the French, so Catalunya, Luxembourg and then Suisse were the biggest races for the team. I actually still have really fond memories of Unibet. It was a great team with some really special characters, like Rigoberto Urán, Baden Cooke, Luis Pasamontes, the staff, and even the bus driver – it was one big family.
Tour de France - 2013
Tours of California
Grasshopper Adventure Series
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