Six weeks after fracturing her ankle, Ellen van Dijk has won the race against time to recover and will race in the 2024 Paris Olympics time trial and road race for the Netherlands.
Van Dijk sustained the injury during a training camp in Spain at the start of June, before undergoing surgery and completing training adapted for the cast on her right leg to rebuild her race fitness.
The Dutch Cycling Federation (KNWU) announced Van Dijk’s participation on Wednesday, 10 days before the individual time trial, after “various performance tests showed that she is ready to represent the Netherlands with ambition”.
“Never Give Up! This is my mantra for over 6 weeks now. Every step I kept repeating it to myself. Don't give up, it is still possible. I took it day by day, although it wasn't easy,” said Van Dijk on Instagram after confirming her participation.
“In a previous update, I said this could be the biggest challenge of my career. I'm now sure it is.
“Last week I did some serious TT intervals to test my shape. I was surprised by the result, but there is still some work to do. I am very happy though to announce that I made it to Paris! We will see what will happen from here.”
Van Dijk will take on the ITT where, as a three-time World Champion in the discipline, she will be one of the favourites alongside current rainbow jersey holder Chloe Dygert (USA). Unfortunately, fellow time trial specialist Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) announced earlier this week that she won’t take the start due to a lingering illness.
She’ll also make up part of a star-studded road race lineup alongside Demi Vollering, Lorena Wiebes and Marianne Vos, with Wiebes - the top sprinter in the world - set to be leader.
“I am really looking forward to joining the team and showing something beautiful together in Paris,” said Van Dijk in a KNWU press release, who also detailed just what it took to get to fitness on her social media.
“After surgery, I had to peddle with a cast first. We had to find a way to get on the bike. Benjamin made all kinds of pedals so I could train with the cast,” Van Dijk said.
“After the cast was removed, I started to 'train' a little bit on the indoor trainer. From 20-30 minutes with the cast to 2*75 minutes without the cast. I celebrated every step of the progression and I guess I was lucky that every time I tried something new, something extra, the ankle was ok with it.
“I could not have done it without the help of [partner and son] Benjamin, Faas (although he has no clue), KNWU, Lidl-Trek and the incredible doctors of UMC Amsterdam.”
