The longest day of the year is a big occasion for the cycling world, as riders make the most of the extra daylight hours to rack up some serious kilometres.
But special mention goes to Trek-Segafredo sports director Steven de Jongh.
De Jongh put in a huge day on Friday (June 19), covering 460km over 13 hours.
Starting from the village of Kalmthout in Belgium, the 46-year-old former pro covered cycling’s heartlands including Antwerp and Harelbeke on his way to De Panne on the North Sea coast.
Riding a total distance of 460.37km, De Jongh spent 13 hours pedalling, holding an average power of 240 watts and pushing 35km/h for the day.
The flat roads of northern Europe mean the Dutchman only gained 611 metres of altitude.
He said: “Great day out. Thanks everybody out on the road who help me and also thanks for those who left a message.”
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De Jongh is a retired professional who rode for Rabobank, Quick-Step and Sky during his career from 1995 to 2010.
He worked as a sports director with Team Sky before leaving the team for Tinkoff, then joining Trek-Segafredo in 2016.
In 2018, a huge search was launched after De Jongh went missing while out on a ride in Spain.
His wife raised the alarm when he didn’t make it back from his training ride near Girona, before a rescue helicopter found him unconscious in a ravine.
De Jongh thanked his Trek-Segafredo team, the emergency services, and people on Strava and Twitter for their help in finding him, adding that he would be back.
The lack of racing this year means pros have had plenty of time to put in some epic rides.
Earlier this month, British rider Harry Tanfield set a rapid 31.7km/h pace for a 337km ride from coast to coast in England.
This time the Dutch pro took on a 400km ride with some of her compatriots, covering almost the entire length of the Netherlands and back in a single day.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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