Ellen van Dijk

Ellen van Dijk

Van Dijk after taking the silver medal at the 2022 European Championships
Personal information
Full name	Eleonora Maria van Dijk
Nickname	The Animal[1]
Born	(1987-02-11) 11 February 1987 (age 37) Harmelen, Netherlands
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Team information
Current team	Lidl–Trek
Disciplines	Road Track (former)
Role	Rider
Rider type	Time trial specialist
Professional teams
2006–2008	Vrienden van het Platteland
2009–2011	Team Columbia–High Road Women
2012–2013	Team Specialized–lululemon
2014–2016	Boels–Dolmans
2017–2018	Team Sunweb
2019–	Trek–Segafredo[3][4]
Major wins
UCI Women's World Cup Tour of Flanders (2014) Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT (2011, 2012, 2013) Stage races Ladies Tour of Qatar (2011) Lotto–Belisol Belgium Tour (2012, 2013) Energiewacht Tour (2013, 2016) Holland Ladies Tour (2013) Gracia–Orlová (2013) Healthy Ageing Tour (2021) One-day races & Classics European Road Championships (2021) National Time Trial Champion (2007, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2022) Sparkassen Giro (2010) Omloop van Borsele (2012) Le Samyn des Dames (2013) Chrono Champenois (2013)
Medal record Representing the  Netherlands Women's track cycling World Championships 2008 Manchester Scratch European Championships 2008 Pruszków Under-23 scratch 2008 Pruszków Under-23 points race 2008 Pruszków Omnium 2008 Pruszków Under-23 individual pursuit Women's road bicycle racing World Championships 2013 Tuscany Time trial 2021 Flanders Time trial 2022 Wollongong Time trial 2016 Doha Time trial 2021 Flanders Mixed team relay 2004 Verona Junior road race 2018 Innsbruck Time trial European Championships 2008 Pettenasco Under-23 time trial 2009 Hooglede-Gits Under-23 time trial 2016 Plumelec Time trial 2017 Herning Time trial 2018 Glasgow Time trial 2019 Alkmaar Time trial 2021 Trentino Road race 2020 Plouay Time trial 2021 Trentino Time trial 2022 Munich Time trial European Games 2015 Baku Time trial World University Championships 2006 Antwerp Road race 2006 Antwerp Time trial Team Specialized–lululemon Women's road bicycle racing World Championships 2012 Valkenburg Team time trial 2013 Florence Team time trial Boels–Dolmans Women's road bicycle racing World Championships 2016 Doha Team time trial 2015 Richmond Team time trial 2018 Innsbruck Team time trial

Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌeːleːjoːˈnoːraː maːˈrijaː ˈʔɛlə(n) vɑn ˈdɛik]; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam Lidl–Trek.^[5] Besides road cycling she was also a track cyclist until 2012. Van Dijk is known as a time trial specialist and is five times world champion. She won her first world title on the track in the scratch race in 2008. She became Road World Champion in 2012, 2013 and 2016 with her respective trade teams in the team time trial and in 2013 also in the individual time trial. In 2015, she won the time trial at the first European Games and the silver medal in the team time trial at the world championships.

Van Dijk started as a speed skater and as part of her skating training she undertook cycling as part of cross-training in summer. She excelled at both, competing nationally at junior level. She gave up speed skating and switched to cycling full-time after winning the national cycling championship for the fifth time in 2007. Along with her world title successes, Van Dijk has also twice been European track champion, three times European time trial champion and has won six World Cup races. In 2012, she competed in three disciplines at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where she helped Marianne Vos win the gold medal in the road race, finished eighth in the time trial and sixth in the team pursuit.