This article was produced in association with Shimano
Fenix-Deceuninck were one of the main animating forces in last year’s Tour de France Femmes, and the team were rewarded for their aggressive style with a stage win for Yara Kastelijn on the fourth day of racing. The multi-talented Dutch rider got herself in the breakaway during the race’s longest stage – a tough and testing 177 kilometres through the Massif Central – and was able to ride solo to the finish line, straight into the arms of her emotional parents, who were waiting in Rodez, for a popular victory and one which maintained the unpredictable nature of the race.
With a background in cyclo-cross, Kastelijn has had an unusual path into the sport. She came close to quitting completely when she signed for a WorldTour team at 18 years old and fell out of love with racing. Steady development and careful nurturing of her talent by the Fenix-Deceuninck organisation, however, has now turned her into one of the most exciting climbing prospects in the women’s peloton.
Rouleur: How did you get into cycling in the first place?
Yara Kastelijn: My dad used to go cycling on Sunday mornings and my brother wanted to start it, too. That meant my mum used to drive me and my sister to the training, as we were too young to stay at home alone. At the beginning we just watched, but eventually they asked us if we wanted to try, as they had hire bikes at the club. They said to try and see if we liked it, and I really did.
When did you realise you wanted to be a professional cyclist?
By the time I was eight or nine. I was already pretty good when I was a child and I’m really bad at losing, even when I just play games with my family. I have to win. My sister would often just let me win otherwise I wouldn’t speak to her!
There are so many good female cyclists from the Netherlands. Why do you think that is?
If you’re a good cyclist in Belgium, everybody wants to help you. In the Netherlands, you have to do it yourself a bit more; you have to be so good even if you want just a chance of winning races or being in the national selection. That gives you motivation to get better. For a long time, you focused only on cyclo-cross... I just liked cyclo-cross more. When I rode for my club team as a child, we would do summer on the road and train in the woods in the winter. I didn’t like the road as much because I hated it when girls sat on my wheel for the whole race and then came around me at the last moment. Cyclo-cross is different. If you are strong, you win. My coach saw my numbers on the road, though, and I had potential there, so we agreed I would start focusing more on road racing before the 2023 season.
Do you think cyclo-cross helped you on the road?
It’s given me more technical skills and definitely makes it easier to ride in the peloton.
You’re signed until 2026 with Fenix-Deceuninck and you’ve been with the organisation for almost six years. Why is it the right place for you?
This team used to just be a cyclo-cross team. Before I went there, I had a contract with a WorldTour team, but I was feeling like I didn’t enjoy cycling any more. I spoke to Philip [Roodhooft, the team’s founder] because he knew me from when I was a junior and he asked me to ride for one year on a team with him. He said to try it with him for one year, and if I still didn’t like it, I could stop. I agreed and one year later I became European champion in cyclo-cross. This team is like a family for me. It’s not like a business. I can have fun while riding, which is something I lost for a while, and that makes it all so much easier.
That ‘fun’ atmosphere in the team was clear at the Tour de France Femmes that year in Fenix-Deceuninck's attacking and positive racing style...
Racing like that is a rule of the team; that’s why we are Fenix-Deceuninck. We race aggressively. When you wait, there are always stronger girls, but if we attack them, they get fatigued and that’s the way to win races.
Did that help you to win stage four of the Tour de France Femmes last year?
It was never the plan for me to go for the victory that day, but I was fighting for the polka-dot jersey points. That meant I got into a big breakaway group, and most of the main teams were represented. Lucinda [Brand] told us we had to go full gas and we built a gap of one minute, then two minutes and eventually it went up to 10 minutes, so I thought we would make it to the finish. I was with my teammate Marthe [Truyen] and our sports director always said not to use too much energy at the front if we wanted a chance to win. I knew I had to finish solo because I’m not the best sprinter. Halfway through the stage, I said to my sports director that I had to pee and he told me that it wasn’t a good time to stop. It got to 25km to go and I did it anyway, because I felt like I had ‘pee legs.’ Once I got back on my bike and back to the group, I attacked four kilometres later. My legs were feeling great.
What was going through your mind when you rode the 20 kilometres solo to the finish line?
I was thinking about how I just have to go as fast as possible to the line. My sports director had told me that Lotte [Kopecky] had attacked behind, but she went up the climb at the same speed as me. It was downhill, so I had to stay focused, but I think I had one of the best days of my life on the bike.
Can you describe the feeling of victory?
It was really special because my parents were at the finish line, too. All of the emotions came together. Without them, I would not be a cyclist – they travelled with me to all the training and the races; they are always there. Sometimes you have a spell when it doesn’t go how you want, but your parents always stand by you. It was a feeling of giving something back to them.
It was the longest ever stage of the Tour de France Femmes at 177 kilometres. Did that distance have an impact on you?
My coach always noticed that I don’t become more tired after three or four hours of training. Generally, I don’t really like to ride my bike for that many hours because I find it becomes so boring, but I knew the longer stage suited me more. I think it’s also because of the nutrition plan of the team. It’s so professional and they calculate exactly how much energy you need and use.
You say you’re not a very punchy rider and prefer longer climbs, which is unusual given your cyclo-cross background. How would you define yourself as a rider?
It’s a bit rare that I’m a good climber because where I live is totally flat. I think I’m good when the climbs are really steep and I prefer it when they’re longer than ten kilometres.
Do you think winning a stage of the Tour changed you?
It didn’t change me; I think I’m still myself. But I get more respect in the peloton, which does make riding through it easier. The weeks after my win, everyone seemed to want something from me; they needed the attention or the interview. I don’t really like that, I just want to ride my bike and have fun. I don’t need to be in the middle of people or all that attention.
Is the Tour de France Femmes different from other races?
It is, but I didn’t feel it at that moment, because the day after it was just another stage, another race. It came a few months later, and I know in a few years I’ll still be able to say I won a stage of the Tour de France. I still don’t really believe I did it, I think that will come later in my life.
Did you feel like you had time to enjoy the victory at the time, or did you move on quickly?
I think I slept for maybe three or four hours a day after winning. The Tour was a great race for our team as we had the polka-dot jersey for a few days and we won a stage. It wouldn’t have mattered if I eventually came last or couldn’t finish, because we had the stage win. We had so much fun as a team afterwards. We didn’t have any pressure, we were just riding bikes. Music was on in the team bus every day. My stage win was for every rider. I didn’t do it alone – it was a big team effort. Even in the weeks before the race, the team organised an altitude camp and everything and it all came together. We had a big party afterwards.
Did you feel any added weight of expectation after getting that win for future races?
My team didn’t give me any pressure but I’m always really hard on myself. Sometimes when I know I don’t have good legs, I still want to win. When I don’t perform as I hoped, I get really mad at myself. It’s not from the team, but sometimes I push myself too much.
Looking ahead to the Tour de France this year, what are your goals for the race?
I think I will focus more on general classification this year. Last year I crashed and lost a lot of time but I’ve shown in the Vuelta this year that I can also do long climbs well. Last year it was all new to me as I’d never ridden climbs of one hour. I want to try to not lose seconds in the first days in the Netherlands this year which will be really windy with echelons. I think if I can do that, I can do my job when the climbs start. Demi Vollering is the big favourite to win this year’s Tour and SD Worx-Protime has a strong team.
What’s it like going up against an opponent like that?
My goal this year is to beat Demi once. That’s the motivation. I was already pretty close in the Vuelta Femenina but then I lost a few seconds. With the Olympics this year, it’s possible that girls who are riding have a decompression after the Olympics, which will help me because I’m not doing them. I’m just going to try to be in my best ever shape during the Tour de France. When you want to win, you have to focus on yourself doing everything right. If you’ve done everything you can do, you can’t be mad at yourself. I really believe I can beat Demi on one day this year.
