Picnic PostNL Rewards Promising Dutch Rider
Youri IJnsen
Timo de Jong will be a professional with Picnic PostNL for the next two years, multiple sources confirmed to WielerFlits. This fulfills a long-held wish of the 26-year-old from Zeeland, who has been hesitant to make this step for some time. The rider transfers from VolkerWessels, where he has been one of the top riders in the Dutch Continental circuit for years. The NIBC Tour of Holland proved to be his springboard.
After several strong years at the Continental level, De Jong had the opportunity this fall to prove his qualities as a stagiaire for Picnic PostNL. Although he performed well in the eight races he rode with the Dutch team, the team hesitated to sign him permanently. This hesitation was not related to his performance but initially because they wanted to wait and see if another unexpected opportunity would arise on the market, which, given the current circumstances (due to the disappearance of Arkéa-B&B Hotels and the merger between Lotto and Intermarché), was not unrealistic.
However, in the NIBC Tour of Holland, De Jong won the penultimate stage after an attacking race on the VAM mountain. In the final lap, he was alongside several strong pros. In the sprint against Slovak champion Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Tietema Rockets) and former European champion Christophe Laporte (Visma | Lease a Bike), De Jong convincingly finished the job. This caught the attention of several teams, including XDS Astana. For Picnic PostNL, it was also the signal not to let the Zeeuw slip away. They are now rewarding him with a two-year WorldTour pro contract.
Held back by corona
De Jong began his career—or as much as you can call it that at that age—in Belgium with the renowned junior team Acrog-Balen BC. That club team produced riders like Tom Boonen and Remco Evenepoel (although he only rode there for a year). In 2016 and 2017, De Jong rode alongside riders such as Jordi Meeus, Jasper Philipsen, Gerben Thijssen, and Florian Vermeersch. His biggest success came in his first year as a junior when he won the Tour of Flanders U19 at the end of the summer. The Zeeuw stayed just ahead of the sprinting peloton on his own.
Afterwards, De Jong moved to DESTIL-Parkhotel Valkenburg, formerly Jo Piels. He immediately won a stage in the renowned under-23 race Carpathian Couriers Race (2.2U). There too, he soloed ahead of a leading group. However, his team folded at the end of 2018, after which De Jong transferred to the newly formed VolkerWessels-Merckx. In 2019, it was still a club team, meaning the squad raced only a few UCI events. He did win the Arden Challenge in the Ardennes, an important race on the Belgian national calendar for many years.
A year later, VolkerWessels-Merckx became a Continental team, but riders at that level had few chances to compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, De Jong was in his final year as an under-23, usually a crucial season to secure a pro contract. Despite a fourth place at the Dutch U23 Road Championships, fifth in the Ronde van de Achterhoek, and sixth in the Ronde van Drenthe, a contract was not forthcoming at the time for the Zeeuw. Nor was it the following year. After a good start with a third place in the Visit Friesland Elfsteden Race, De Jong couldn’t maintain that level in 2022 compared to his 2021 results.
Timo de Jong| Year | Team |
|---|---|
| 2027 | |
| 2026 | |
| 2025 | |
| 2025 | |
| 2024 |
Serious crash
The low point came at the end of that disappointing season when he crashed into a tree during the Ronde van de Achterhoek. De Jong lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital. He suffered fractures to his cheekbone, jaw cavity, and kneecap. In 2023, he started strong but was unable to sustain that form from May onward. The following year, however, De Jong showed much greater consistency. He finished fourth in the Ronde van Overijssel, earned numerous top placings in national classics, and won the Eurode Omloop and the Sluitingsprijs Putte-Kapelle.
Last season, he continued that impressive streak. He won a stage and finished second overall in Olympia’s Tour. Additionally, he won the Holland Cup, a series of eight Dutch UCI 1.2 races. De Jong owed this to his victory in the Midden-Brabant Poort Omloop, a fifth place in the Arno Wallaard Memorial, sixth in the Omloop der Kempen, and eighth in the Slag om Norg. Earlier, he had already earned his stagiaire contract with Picnic PostNL, and as the cherry on top, he secured his first pro victory in the NIBC Tour of Holland.
