{"id":35849,"title":"Kim de Baat","description":"Kim de Baat was the 2022 Belgian Cycling National Road Race Champion when she sprinted to victory at Middelkerke. We talk to Kim about her professional cycling career riding for teams such as Plantur Pura and Fenix Deceuninck and her new role as Assistant Coach to the Belgian Cycling's women's teams. She fits into the description of True Flandrien.","content":"

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Published in<\/strong>: COBBLES & CLASSICS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

Having witnessed her victory at the 2022 Belgian National Road Race Championship, Kim de Baat\u2019s unfolding story had intrigued me, and after some perseverance, I finally had the chance to interview her.<\/p>

Born and raised in the Netherlands, Kim de Baat became a citizen of Belgium in 2015. But does the newly appointed Assistant Belgian Team Coach qualify as a True Flandrien<\/em>?<\/p>

I think so, and here\u2019s why.<\/p>

\"Belgian2022 Belgian Champion Kim de Baat. Image: <\/em>Bram van Lent<\/em><\/a><\/p>

True Flandrien<\/h3>

Writing under the pseudonym of Karel Van Wijnendaele, journalist and founder of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Carolus Steyaert is the first person credited with using the term True Flandrien<\/em>.<\/p>

The official Cycling in Flanders website<\/strong><\/a> describes a True Flandrien<\/em> as someone who is \u201ca man or woman of steel. A heroic cyclist who never gives up, relishes a challenge and eats pain for breakfast.\u201d<\/p>

Moreover, they are usually considered to be a rider who performs well in Flemish races in the most diabolical of weather, who would never consider quitting, no matter how daunting the odds and for whom hard work is a virtue, not a folly.<\/p>

Belgische Kampioenschappen 2022<\/h3>

Middlekerke, twenty-sixth of June 2022. Six riders maintain a tenuous lead over the baying pack that lingers just a few seconds behind. It\u2019s been an attritional day. Crashes, the warm weather and a sea breeze have already reduced the field by half.<\/p>

Kim\u2019s role has been to protect Plantur Pura\u2019s designated leader, Julie De Wilde, and ensure that the opposition is forced into a hard race. The race favourite is reigning champion Lotte Kopecky, but the SD Worx rider lacks the support of teammates.<\/p>

\u201cshe feels drained of energy\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Plantur Pura plans to exploit this weakness by placing one of their riders in every break. Into the final lap, Kim de Baat is ensconced within the leading group of six. Her legs are burning from her efforts over the preceding 118 kilometres, and she feels drained of energy.<\/p>

\"KimKim (second right) in the closing kilometres of the 2022 Championship. Image: Rijden<\/em><\/p>

But she has a job to do. Ride hard and fulfil her team role. She doesn\u2019t have expectations of personal triumph, and it\u2019s not even a consideration as she continues to press hard on the pedals. Suddenly, her earpiece crackles with the sound of her Sporting Director, Heidi Van De Vijver.<\/p>

Her instructions are clear. It\u2019s now up to Kim to finish the job for the team. With 1.5 kilometres left, the main group is not going to catch them. Without thought, her mind switches automatically to preparing herself for the sprint, saving energy and making sure she\u2019s not boxed in.<\/p>

\"Cycling<\/u><\/a><\/p>

As the leading six begins to finesse, the chasers draw ever closer. Alone, Alana Castrique bridges across to make it seven at the front. But she arrives just in time for Kim to light up the sprint. Once her Plantur Pura jersey hits the front, it\u2019s clear she will win.<\/p>

It\u2019s almost exactly ten years since her previous UCI race victory, and as she crosses the line, what she has achieved doesn\u2019t sink in. Not then and not even much later.<\/p>

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Cycling heritage<\/h2>

That Kim became a racing cyclist is no surprise. She comes from an impressive family of cyclists. Mum Nita was crowned the Dutch champion in 1977, and her Uncle, Teun van Vliet, was a successful professional.<\/p>

\u201can exclusive club\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Mothers and daughters who both became national champions in cycling are not common. Britons Beryl and Denise Burton are another example. By winning the national championships for two different nations, Belgium and the Netherlands, puts Kim and her mother in an exclusive club.<\/p>

\"HenrTeun van Vliet (second right at the front) at the 1981 Amateur World Championships. Image: <\/em>The Mick Searle Collection<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>

Teun van Vliet enjoyed a purple patch in 1987 when he won the classics Omloop Het Volk and Gent Wevelgem. But it was Km\u2019s brother who inspired her to start racing. She had always wanted to emulate him, and where he went, she soon followed.<\/p>

Growing up in the Netherlands, where almost a third of all journeys are made by bike, it was inevitable that cycling would become an integral part of her life.<\/p>

Kim recalls commuting to and from high school on a city bike, riding the 15 kilometres with a group of over twenty friends. A vision hard to imagine in most countries, especially the UK, where some schools have banned cycling as a form of transport.<\/p>

\u201csheer dogged persistence\u201d<\/em><\/p>

It was her brother who was expected to make the step into the professional ranks, as he was assumed to be the more natural athlete. But it was Kim\u2019s love affair with cycling and her sheer dogged persistence that ultimately paid off.<\/p>

Kim experimented with cyclocross and track racing, but neither was a success for her. As she freely admits, her bike always seemed to be drawn to the nearest tree in cyclocross, and the lack of brakes on track bikes didn\u2019t inspire her confidence.<\/p>

Going Belgian<\/h2>

As an eighteen-year-old amateur cyclist, she moved to Belgium in 2009. Having left her life in the Netherlands behind and feeling at home, she applied for and gained Belgian citizenship six years later.<\/p>

It made life easier for her, and she felt less of an outsider in her adopted homeland. There were advantages from a sporting perspective, but it wasn\u2019t an important consideration. It just felt the right thing to do.<\/p>

\u201cresplendent in her tricolour jersey\u201d<\/em><\/p>

That the Belgian people have adopted her as much as she has adopted them is reflected in their reaction to her victory in the Belgian Championship. Kim was invited as a guest of honour at a Beer Festival being held in her new home town of Oudenaarde. The rapturous crowd which packed the main square waved and cheered as she was presented on the stage, resplendent in her tricolour jersey.<\/p>

READ MORE<\/strong>: Kim\u2019s fellow Belgian Yvonne Reynders was a pioneer of women\u2019s cycle racing. She overcame almost impossible odds and prejudice to become a World Champion. <\/em>Read Yvonne Reynders\u2019 incredible story<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>

\"Yvonne<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Strengths as a rider<\/h2>

Although Kim has a strong sprint, she\u2019s never seen herself as a pure sprinter. Her real strength is her positioning and ability to put herself in the right place for the final sprint. She thinks that she lacks the selfishness to be a true winner. More often than not, she\u2019d work for others in her team.<\/p>

It was a role that gave her great satisfaction, often playing a pivotal part in the outcome of a race. It was her passion for cycling and the racing game, rather than wins, that drove her on as she matured from a junior to an under-23 rider.<\/p>

Her progression in the sport did not come easily, and she had to sustain hard work over many years before she attained professional status.<\/p>

\"KimKim has had to work to achieve her ambitions. Image: <\/em>Bram van Lent<\/em><\/a><\/p>

Her forte, as we\u2019d expect from a True Flandrien<\/em>, was the wind, hills and cobbles of the Flemish races. Although she only scored two UCI wins during her career (the Belgian Championships and the 2012 Dwars door de Westhoek), most of her notable results occurred in Flemish races, including second in Dwars door Vlaanderen.<\/p>

It was only in 2020 when Kim signed for the Ciclotel team that she was paid enough to be able to train and race full-time. For the previous seven years, she\u2019d combined racing with part-time work. For most of her career, she wasn\u2019t even earning the minimum wage.<\/p>

\u201cworking in a restaurant kitchen\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Her part-time work included working in a restaurant kitchen. A job that is hardly conducive to effective recovery from training. Eventually, she trained to become a personal coach<\/strong><\/a>. A business she still runs.<\/p>

Having had the opportunity to train and race full-time, she appreciated the difference it made and how hard combining work and a cycling career truly was. Unfortunately, Ciclotel folded after a single season, and Kim was once again without a team.<\/p>

She signed up for the curious Dubai Police Cycling Team, which was established at the instigation of the Chief of Police to grow cycling in the region. She found the racing limited, and before the end of the year, she\u2019d moved back to Belgium and raced for the national team.<\/p>