"I won't race for any other team than Visma | Lease a Bike for the rest of my career"—It’s a huge compliment to the team

At the end of 2012, Rabobank pulled out of cycling sponsorship following revelations about doping in the 90s and 00s. At that time, two riders were on the team who are still part of the squad today: one is Steven Kruijswijk, and the other is Kelderman. However, the rider from Amersfoort also spent four years at Sunweb and two seasons at BORA-hansgrohe in between.

The generation of Kruijswijk, Robert Gesink, and Bauke Mollema carried the burden of the previous era’s scandals. "I didn’t really get those questions," Kelderman clarifies. "I only started performing well after that, but I think Robert and Steven dealt with it more."

Despite being just a young pro at the time, Wilco Kelderman still remembers how stunned he was when he first heard that Rabobank would be pulling out of cycling sponsorship. "For me, it was a total surprise because I was just a young guy who had just turned pro and had big ambitions. I didn’t know anything about doping or the past. For me, Rabobank was simply the team I wanted to be part of."

"I had no idea what was happening. I thought: What now?" he recalls. "That year, I had a great season and became one of those young talents that every team wanted. So I wasn’t afraid about my future, but I did wonder: how is this going to play out? At that moment, you don’t fully grasp it, but now, here we are again," says the happy climber.

Kelderman had already been informed about Rabobank’s return two weeks ago. "My first reaction was goosebumps. I couldn’t believe it—how is Rabobank coming back? I never expected that." That, he says, makes it even more special. "It’s a huge compliment to the team—how they’ve built their identity, how they’ve positioned themselves, and the branding around it. But also how transparent we are in how we approach the sport. I think we’ve set an example."

Now 33, Kelderman has made it clear—just as he did last week during the Volta ao Algarve—that he wants to stay with Visma | Lease a Bike until the end of his career. "I belong with this team. I’m not going anywhere else until I retire. I don’t need to do anything else; I feel at home here. We make each other better, and that just feels right."