Watch for these cyclists competing at the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics
Cycling fans are once again well served these weeks with plenty of races, but for the coming two weeks most of the attention will be on another sporting event: the Olympic Winter Games. However, in Milan and the surrounding area, some (former) cyclists will be in action.
From Martina Sáblíková to Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong
We start with the greatest Olympian of them all: Martina Sáblíková. For the now 38-year-old Czech long-track speed skater, the Milan Games will be her very last competition. The three-time Olympic champion (who also boasts 16 world titles and countless other prizes in her career) will end her long and, above all, illustrious skating career after the event.
What many people may not know is that Sáblíková also has a background as a cyclist. Her first real achievement was a bronze medal at the 2008 Under-23 European Time Trial Championships. It did not foreshadow a major pro career, but she did become twelve times Czech elite champion (road and time trial), competed at elite World Championships, and even finished ninth at the 2012 World Time Trial Championships in Valkenburg.
That year Sáblíková rode for the UCI team Dolmans-Boels, alongside, among others, Anouska Koster and Pauliena Rooijakkers. The last time she truly stood out on the bike was in the summer of 2023. She won L’Étape du Tour, a cycling event across the Alps, including climbs like Col de la Ramaz (13.9 kilometers at 7.1%) and Col de Joux Plane (11.6 kilometers at 8.5%) toward Morzine.
Her friend Nikola Zdráhalova also has a cycling background. She competed at the 2014 Junior World Championships but did not get beyond the midfield. Still, she was once fifth in the Czech National Time Trial Championships.
There are also more Olympic speed skaters who are or have been active on the bike. Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong—specializing in the 1500, 3000 meters, and allround events—fell in love with cycling thanks to her boyfriend and cyclist Coen Rijpma. She has talent too, as she became Dutch champion last year without a contract. She also won the 2025 Zevenbergen cycling criterium.
Lotto Intermarché rider on the Olympic ice
Belgian Sandrine Tas, American Mia Manganello, and Belarusian Marina Zueva will also soon skate on the Olympic ice, spending the summer months on their racing bikes. Zueva has been racing at the national level in her home country Belarus for several years and was once runner-up in the 2020 road race. Tas can even call herself a ‘real’ cyclist, as she has been under contract with Lotto Intermarché Ladies since this year. Manganello, one of the bigger contenders in the mass start, rode for several seasons with DNA Cycling.
Finally, let’s take a brief detour to bobsleigh. There we will see a remarkable name at the start for Team Canada: Kelsey Mitchell. The Canadian won Olympic gold as a track cyclist (individual sprint) in Tokyo 2021 but is now heading to the Milan Olympic Winter Games as a bobsledder.
Mitchell can’t wait to compete as a bobsledder. “I’m really excited. It still feels a bit surreal. I’m 32 and still a rookie in this sport. However, I have always been able to count on support, and that feels truly amazing. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity.”
