Bursting onto the scene in his first year in the junior ranks in 2022, Mees took three wins to his name and several other places of honour, before another consistent campaign in 2023 saw him take more podium places and top tens ahead of a move to the team’s Development program in 2024.
Cycling wasn’t Mees’ first sport though and instead he took up gymnastics after seeing all his older sister’s medals and thinking, “I want that”. However, it turned out that Mees wasn’t as adept on the gymnastics floor as he had hoped and eventually stopped after being “no good at it.” After not doing anything for half a year, his mum encouraged him to take up something and having been inspired by the Tour de France passing Zeeland previously in 2010 where he and his family went to watch, an 11-year-old Mees decided to take up cycling more competitively.
“I biked outside as a kid and then my mum said why not go and try it properly and I fell in love with it. Since that point, I won some races and kept working at it and here I am now.”
A fan of the film “Cars” as a youngster which Mees admits he “watched a lot”, the speed and excitement of the sport is something that grips him as a person. He also likes both the mental and physical aspect of challenging yourself too, pushing yourself to the limits and trying to be better every day.
“Seeing those improvements motivates me to go out on the bike but I also just enjoy riding too for the fun of it; I think it’s a really good way to clear your head.”
Clearing your head and having something else to focus on other than cycling is also important for the young Dutchie who at the moment is studying for a psychology degree. It’s a flexible self-study course and something that Mees thinks can be combined with his cycling well, and “keeps my mind occupied.”