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Last September, Michael Vink, like many other committed amateur cyclists around the world, still dreamed of the day they could become a professional cyclist. He was saving money by not paying for a personal trainer, and he knew early on that working in the cycling industry was the best way for him to continue pursuing his goals.
“I’ve been teaching myself for the past few years,” the Kiwi said. “I’m a bike guy. I’ll wake up, check the weather forecast, see how I’m feeling, and do what I want. I work on and off, and a few different things are bike-related, including at the shop I have too much experience in the bike industry to do something different.”
Vink’s story will be relevant to many across the globe. Here’s the problem: he’s 31 years old. He has lived that life on and off for the past 13 years, racing for various teams in the US, Australia and New Zealand. The solid rider, national road race champion in 2012 and time trial champion in 2015, once nearly signed with a professional team, but now his dreams are doomed. Especially considering that cyclists are getting younger.
Then got a call in late September.It comes from Mauro Gianetti, Team Leader and CEO Emirates – Emirates, the highest-ranked men’s team in the peloton. “He sent me a message asking if I was free to chat,” Vink said. That’s not entirely unexpected: Vink does well on MyWhoosh, an online training platform with UAE ties.
“I think it has something to do with it because I know the team has ties to the platform. I thought he wanted a promotion or something,” Wenk continued. “Maybe he just wanted to see what the guys on MyWhoosh were doing relative to the guys on the team. In the back of my head though, two percent of me started dreaming that he actually called me about a contract. I was in Thinking, ‘Maybe, maybe’.”
Gianetti saw Vink’s power figures and invited him to test it. Four weeks later, he called Vink again. “He said I had a one-year deal with the team, and in a week I was at the team’s first training camp in 2023. It all happened so fast.”
The past five months have been a whirlwind for Vink.His story isn’t all that different from his teammates compatriot jevon After his success on Zwift, he became a well-known Alpecin-Deceuninck pro. Again, the difference is Wink’s age.It’s been seven years since he won the two-time Tour de France Tad Pogachar Podium finisher Juan Ayuso at the Vuelta a España for more than a decade. Both are his teammates now, but he is new to the WorldTour.
“When we went to ride the day before the race, everyone was riding at 300 watts, including the climbs, which made the race not look so bad,” Vink laughs. “But I’ve been on a bike for a long time, so racing is second nature to me. A lot of things are the same as the amateurs, just a big step forward.”
Vink pushes peloton forward in recent Oman tour
(Image credit: Getty)
It was quite a career change to quit his temp job to do a full-time job racing for the sport’s statistically best team. His income is also significantly higher than the salary level of the mainland team. “It’s definitely going to make a difference,” he admitted. “It makes life easier, but to say it’s not enough to retire after five years is fine because it keeps me motivated and eager to keep getting contracts.”
The one-year deal is frugal, but he has already begun to prove his worth as a housewife, taking part in the Tour of Australia and Tour of Oman. “Honestly, this [the one-year deal] Not the pressure, but it’s been on the back of my mind, especially because I’m not quite sure what’s expected of me, and I don’t think the team is entirely sure what they should expect from me,” he said.
“It’s a situation where seeing how we’re going, I put my hand up and say, ‘This is what I can do, this is the value I can bring to the team, and that’s why you should give me another contract. ’.” I knew I had to perform every day.
“I can do a little bit of everything – that’s what the team wants me to specialize in. I can definitely lose another three or four kilos and be a pretty good climber, but I don’t have enough horsepower on flat ground, so I Think I’m best suited for average families. But this year I’ll naturally find my niche and then get sucked in and focus on that.”
Vink exudes enthusiasm, and it’s clear he’s not intimidated by the challenge of turning pro at a time when many of his peers are entering the twilight years of their careers. But he couldn’t deny that it was a 180-degree turn.
“I’ve been to Europe before, but never for very long,” he said, further reflecting his freshness. “I had to buy a new apartment in Girona and I’m getting used to a new training path. I also have a great trainer now. I wake up in the morning and look at my program and see it’s a day Three hours, that’s all, that’s my job today, and I’m getting paid. It’s a really good situation.”
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