Daan Hoole bounces back after disappointing World Cup at European Championship: "You start to doubt yourself"

A seventh-place finish at the European Time Trial Championships in his home country was a significant boost for Daan Hoole. The rider, who usually competes for Lidl-Trek, had a disappointing World Championships time trial, but his performance in Denmark and Renewi, followed by this impressive result, put him back in the spotlight.

By the time Hoole finished, many top riders had already completed their races. However, he managed to secure the fastest time in Emmen up until that point. Ultimately, six more top riders managed to beat his time, but with Hoole's seventh-place finish and a tenth-place finish for Sjoerd Bax, the Netherlands could reflect on the event in Drenthe with satisfaction.

The always friendly Hoole shared his thoughts after the race with IDLProCycling.com, saying, "It was a tough and fast race, but I performed well. I was able to push myself to my limits. I started strong against the headwind, and then it was a matter of maintaining that pace as long as possible. I could feel that I was performing well, which was definitely encouraging."

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"The World Cup was genuinely disappointing," he reflected on his 34th-place finish in Scotland. "At that point, you start doubting yourself, but Koos still had faith in me, and I managed to deliver two strong time trials in the meantime. Here, I capitalized on that with a solid result. I'm extremely happy and satisfied with a top-ten finish."

How did Hoole manage to bounce back from the subpar performance in Glasgow, where things didn't go as planned for the rider from Zuidland? "We conducted a thorough analysis with the team to pinpoint what went wrong and identify areas for improvement. Once we clarified those issues, I was able to rebound, and just four days later, I secured a fourth-place finish in the time trial at the Tour of Denmark. I performed exceptionally well there, which helped boost my confidence."

Hoole: "With Kooij we have someone who can compete for prizes at EC"

Now, Hoole eagerly anticipates Thursday's Mixed Relay and, of course, Sunday's European Championship road race around and near VAM Mountain. He clinched second place there at the 2022 Dutch National Championship. Does that, along with the familiarity many Dutch riders have with the course and the mountain, provide him with extra confidence? "Having the experience of riding there certainly can be an advantage."

"We have a strong team with some talented riders," he says, reflecting on the road race with leaders Olav Kooij and Marijn van den Berg. "We're going to give it our all with this great group of riders we always have on the national team to achieve the best possible result. With Olav, we have someone who can contend for prizes."