Leading Dutch triathlete Maya Kingma, a two-time Olympian, has become a professional cyclist at the top level of the sport.
She was 11th at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and was seventh behind Cassandre Beaugrand in Paris last summer.
Her biggest win triathlon came at WTCS Leeds in 2021 when she got the better of home favourite Jess Learmonth, with her most recent success last September at the World Triathlon Cup Karlovy Vary.
But now EF Education-Oatly have announced that the 29-year-old has joined the team – and will make her debut at the Giro d’Italia which starts this Saturday (6 July).
Changing dynamics
In a press release from EF Education-Oatly, Kingma said: “I’ve been doing triathlon for quite a long time now. Moving to road cycling has always been in the back of my mind.
“I would like to have more hills and changing dynamics. In road cycling, there are so many different types of races and tactics play a much bigger role. Those are the parts of racing that I really love.”
And she won’t have to wait long to get a taste of hills and tactics as her first race with EF Education-Oatly will be the Giro d’Italia Women, an eight-stage grand tour that rarely strays from the mountains this year.
“There’s no pressure,” she said about making her professional road cycling debut at the Giro. “Execute. Just go into it. I’m used to big events; I’ve been to two Olympic Games. Having the trust of the team is a big boost. And that makes me really excited.”
Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown, the most decorated female Olympic triathlete, joined EF Education-Oatly for a training camp earlier this year while former Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt was long rumoured to be switching to pro cycling but Kingma has been the first in recent times to actually make the leap.
‘A big adventure’
And it sounds like she has already made a big impression at her new team.
EF Education-Oatly general manager Esra Tromp explained: “I invited her to attend our training camp in January, and she immediately made a really great impression on me. I got a clear picture of who she is, what her mentality is, and what she can bring to the team.
“We have a young squad and we have riders that can learn a lot about being a professional from an athlete like Maya, even though she comes from a different sport.
“Beyond that, I think this year will be a big adventure for both of us. Her level of fitness is super high and I’m really curious what we can discover in each other.”
The team added that at that camp in Mallorca, Kingma participated in a series of race simulations which included a team time trial, lead out sprints, and an uphill finish – and won the series.
Since then they say she’s continued to work on key skills by competing in road races in the Netherlands, where she’s focused on tactics, cornering, and racing in a larger peloton.
