First things first, introduce yourself
Hello Guy here, 37 years “old”

Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born in the Netherlands, I grew up in Almere when I was in mu childhood. After that I moved to some other places in the Netherlands. Where is your current home? I live now in Tiel (also in the Netherlands), which is close to Utrecht and Arnhem.

How did you get into riding a bike?
We all learn how to ride a bike in the Netherlands as it is part of our culture I guess. But when I was about 14 years old I had a nice bike and in the summer I went out for some summer evening rides. When I got my first car, cycling got much less. Then I started with fitness for a few years and ended up with years of running, never really enjoyed it and got loads of injuries. I bought a road bike and started cycling 8 years ago and never ever did a run again.

What is your local climb? The climb you do the most out of any other.
As the Netherlands is mostly very flat we have a few areas with little hills. But my local climb is the Amerongse berg.

What is it like?
The Amerongse berg is a short one, 1300m with an average gradient of 4.3% and a max gradient of 7%. So it is not a real mountain climb maybe, but it can hurt if you attack it. What kind of efforts is the climb suited to? Just a short and not to steep climb, normally I just cycle it up around my FTP. It is quite gradually so you can sustain your power the whole climb. Just before the top you can shift up 1 gear to finish it of strong. I did it a few time on max effort on the big ring, then it feels much harder although it is a short effort.

Is the Strava KOM for the climb ever in your thoughts, or do you strictly focus on the goals of the current effort?
No the KOM is for me impossible to get, there is one guy who have set the time very sharp just under 2 min. My fasted time was last year 2:50 with an average of 29.1 km/u.

Any other climbs in the area you prefer, or is this climb your favourite?
My favorite place for hills in the Netherlands is Limburg, that is in de south next to Belgium. The roads there have mostly rolling hills, and a few pretty steep ones with 17-20%. It is a great area for hill training and it is most of the time quite busy with cyclists.

What about favourite climb overall? Any reason? My all time favourite climb I have done is so far the Colle del Nivolet, in the north of Italy in the Turin area. It has magnificent views when you climb up to concur the 40km dead end road. If it is not on your to climb bucket list, put it on!

What is the hardest climb you’ve summited by bike?
I must say doing the cinglés du Mont Ventoux was quite hard to do, but on the other hand it also felt “easy” cause I really had super legs that day. So I think doing the Galibier during La Marmotte granfondo was probably the hardest, just felt like there was no ending to reach the top. I did it a few years later again and then it went super good, still hard but with a better feeling.

What kind of riding do you do in general? Is it more for training or pleasure?
I do a mixture of pleasure and proper training with my coach to prepare for granfondos or races in my home area. But most of the year it is structured, with a good mix of high intensity work and easy rides.

Touchy subject, but something that has happened to every bike rider at some point, getting dropped. When did you last get dropped in a race or ride? What was going on when you got dropped?

I can remember that I was dropped on the first races I did (in the Netherlands you have a lot of crit races), I was off the back in a few laps and felt so shit about that. It really motivated me to train harder and get better, dropping now is not a thing that happens anymore in the crit races. On granfondos there are always stronger riders so I just ride my own race and try to push myself as hard as I can to get a good result.

Did you get back to the group you were with?
On the granfondos I mostly get back to groups in the descent of a climb, I just think I descent quite fast in comparison with other cyclists.

Gruelling turbo session or climbing the worst climb you can imagine in wind and rain?
I think I choose outside, I really not like to train inside on a turbo. My first granfondo was 8h in the rain, I still smiled the whole way so yes outside!

On to more current matters. Which team/club are you riding for this year, and what do you aim to achieve in 2020?
I ride for my local club Jvr de Batauwers, based in my home town Tiel. I registered for the Mallorca 312 and the Schleck granfondo so far, but there will be a bit more later this year for sure! Last year I did the Schleck granfondo and for the first time, besides it is a really awesome one to cycle I missed the UCI qualification on just a few min. This year I want to do a bit better and get the qualification!

What are your interests away from the bike?
I really love to listen to music, watch some films/series and spend time with my girlfriend/friends. I have a busy job and spend a lot of time training, so I am happy when I can chill and relax.

Quick fire questions Tell me your…

Go to summer road bike? I have a Prorace bike which I ride with loads of fun, great for crit races and the not to steep climbs Also I have a Specialized Venge, that is just an amazing machine and love to ride this too!

Dream bike? Specialized Venge (luckily I own one !!)

One climb to ride said dream bike up? I would like to ride some nice climbs in Switserland like the Furkapass/Gotthardpass/Grosse Scheidegg/Grimsel pass

Favourite cycling book? I am not really in to books, but I read Procycling. I also liked the biography of Peter Sagan and Laurens ten Dam

Favourite cycling movie? I really liked the movie of the life of Pantani, a great story of his well know cycling life.

Favourite rider(if any)? Niki Terpstra and Matthieu van der Poel

Why? They both did some great efforts on big races like Paris-Roubaix, Amstel gold race and other one day classics. Love the style and eager style to win races.

Favourite piece of cycle clothing you’ve owned? I love cycling socks, have so many to match my cycling kits so yes cycling socks is for sure a favourite!

Thanks Guy!

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Guy Burgerhout