Hailing from the town of Franeker in the Dutch province of Friesland, Jurgen is a new recruit to the team’s Development program having rode for Willebrord Wl Vooruit Juniors in the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Making his mark as a young climbing talent, Jurgen went somewhat viral at the start of 2024 where on a training camp with his team at the time, he set a very respectable time on the famous Coll de Rates climb, earning him a top ten spot on the leaderboard amongst some esteemed company.
Climbing to new heights, Jurgen overcame some setbacks throughout the year and was able to produce some strong results such as third place in the Dutch national championships behind now-teammate Ko [Molenaar], two stage wins and the overall title at Volta a Portugal and an impressive eighth place at the World Championships.
However, cycling wasn’t originally Jurgen’s passion as the Friesland-native, like many in his region, put on the blades and competed in speed skating as a youngster. Also trying his hand (or should we say feet) at football, it was a combination of his dad and Dutch cycling legend Tom Dumoulin who inspired Jurgen to swap two skates for two wheels.
“I first started watching cycling around the time that Tom won the Giro, and I really admired the way he and the team rode. My dad at the time was also doing triathlon so I thought I would give the cycling part a go and things went from there.”