Rob Ruijgh (; born 12 November 1986) is a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

former professional

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cyclin ...

Career

Amateur career

Ruijgh was born in

Heerlen Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limburg ...

, and liked to watch cycling on television as a youth. After visiting the local velodrome in

Geleen Geleen (; li, Gelaen ) is a city in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. With 31,670 inhabitants in 2020, it is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen. Geleen is situated along the river Geleenbeek, a right tributa ...

, he started racing at the age of 9. In 1998, he became Dutch Youth Champion for 12-year-olds in

Oldenzaal Oldenzaal (; Tweants: ''Oldnzel'') is a municipality and a city in the eastern province of Overijssel in the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Twente and is close to the German border. It received city rights in 1249. Historically, the ...

. With continued good results, he came into the picture of the former Dutch national coach Egon van Kessel. As he became older, van Kessel invited Ruijgh to compete against foreign opponents of his age, which are also among the best in their country. Ruijgh did not disappoint, winning the highly regarded World Cup Giro della Lunigiana in 2004. Shortly after that he also rode the Men's Junior World Championships in Verona, Italy. In 2005, Ruijgh rode for Belgian team Amuzza.com, where former top sprinter

Wilfried Nelissen Wilfried Nelissen ( Tongeren, 5 May 1970) is a former Belgian road racing cyclist, who specialised as a sprinter. He was involved in a crash at the end of stage 1 of the 1994 Tour de France, when he collided with a policeman. The incident also ...

was his team leader. He won one race during the season, before joining the in 2006. Due to a virus, he could not keep up his good results, which took him out for a few months. In 2008 Ruijgh joined the German Team Sparkasse; hestarted to perform well again and rode for the Dutch national team at under-23 level. In 2009 he continued his good results at Team BPL–Belisol, where he won Romsée–Stavelot–Romsée and the 1st stage of the Tour de Liège. Thereafter, team manager Daan Luijkx from the offered him an internship in mid-2009. He finished in eleventh place at the

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

Professional career

After the internship in mid-2009, he became a professional with the team in 2010, signing a contract until the end of 2011. He made his debut in the

Tour of Qatar The Tour of Qatar was an annual professional cycling stage race held in Qatar. First organized in 2002, the event was part of the UCI Asia Tour until 2016. The 2017 edition was to have seen the event upgraded to the UCI World Tour for the fir ...

. After the

Dutch National Road Race Championships The Dutch National Road Race Championships take place annually, on the weekend prior to the start of the Tour de France. First held in 1888, today it is organized by the Top Sports Group A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squa ...

Beek Beek (; li, Baek ) is a town and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, in the province of Limburg. As of 2012, Beek has a population of about 16,400, of which about 8,800 live in the town of Beek. The municipality of Beek makes part ...

, he broke his hand while training behind a scooter. The rest of the year he finished in the top 10 five times with a 3rd place in Binche–Tournai–Binche. In 2011, Ruijgh had a great year; he helped team-mate

Pim Ligthart Pim Ligthart (born 16 June 1988, in Hoorn) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2007 and 2008, and also 2011 to 2020, for the KrolStonE Continental Team, , , and teams. Major results Track ;2004 : ...

win the Dutch National Road Race Championships in

Ootmarsum Ootmarsum is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is a part of the municipality of Dinkelland, and lies about 10 km north of Oldenzaal. In 2001, the city of Ootmarsum had 4227 inhabitants. The built-up area of the city was 1.5&nbs ...

, finishing 6th himself. He also had a strong performance in the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part ...

, ending 14th in the general classification. After these results Ruijgh made his debut in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consist ...

and made it to Paris. He made an excellent impression as the best Dutch cyclist, finishing 21st in the general classification – 33 minutes, 4 seconds behind winner

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along with ...

– and 5th in the young riders classification. During the Tour de France, he extended his contract with until the end of the 2013 season. In 2012 he missed the

because of a knee injury and also had to quit the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

; tests diagnosed a parasite in his stomach. 2013 also did not start well for Ruijgh as during his favoured home race, the Amstel Gold Race, he fell and suffered a concussion. Recovery from the crash took longer than expected because of a fever after

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Monuments'' of the European professional ...

. By the end of April his health and condition were back to normal and in May Ruijgh finished 54th overall at the Giro d'Italia. Ruijgh joined for the 2014 season, after folded at the end of the 2013 season.

Major results

;2005 : 1st ITT OZ Wielerweekend : 3th Overall GC OZ Wielerweekend : 6th

Flèche Ardennaise The Flèche Ardennaise is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in June in the province of Liège, Belgium. Since 2010, the race is organized as a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle ...

;2006 : 6th Overall Triptyque des Barrages ;2008 : 7th Overall Tour des Pyrénées ;2009 : 5th Druivenkoers Overijse ;2010 : 3rd Binche–Tournai–Binche ;2011 : 4th Overall

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk (french: Quatre Jours de Dunkerque) is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been h ...

: 7th

Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan Grand Prix du Morbihan is a single-day men's road bicycle race held annually in May around Plumelec, in the region of Brittany, France. Since 2020, the race is organised as a 1.Pro event on the UCI ProSeries, also being part of the French Road ...

: 1st Ridderronde Maastricht ;2012 : 1st RaboRonde Heerlen : 9th Overall

: 10th

;2014 : 1st Memorial Van Coningsloo : 9th Overall

Three Days of De Panne 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

;2015 : 9th Druivenkoers Overijse ;2017 : 1st Overall Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan) : 10th

Volta Limburg Classic Volta Limburg Classic is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in late March or early April in Limburg, Netherlands. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruijgh, Rob 1986 births Living people Dutch male cyclists Sportspeople from Heerlen UCI Road World Championships cyclists for the Netherlands Cyclists from Limburg (Netherlands) Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran) winners 21st-century Dutch people