The year 2024 started off excellently for Bauke Mollema in Australia. He performed well in several stages of the Tour Down Under, finishing fifteenth overall. Later, in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race, he finished in eleventh place.
Two periods of illness before the big race
After a devastatingly bad 2023 season, these are definitely positives. His performance in the Giro d’Italia was poor, and the Vuelta a España that followed wasn’t much better either.
“I have never started a big race so badly as in this Vuelta. I was sick just like before the Giro. If it was COVID? I haven’t tested it, but it’s quite possible. Maybe I made some wrong choices in terms of training last year”, explains Mollema to the newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.
Wrong decisions and their impact
He decided not to do any Training Camp at altitude before the Giro, which proved to be a mistake.
“It was a deliberate choice because I would have had to do it long before the start, but that didn’t work out well. There were several other reasons. As you get older, you sometimes set other priorities. Let’s just say that last season wasn’t good due to various circumstances.”
Better values than ever
On the other hand, the beginning of 2024 is showing promise. Mollema, now 37, can prove this with data.
“Here in Australia, I had my best values in many years. This will be necessary with so many young people walking so fast. Whether I’m good enough to keep up with the best is the question. But I achieved my best numbers after many years.”
