Thijs Joris Al (born 16 June 1980 in

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. The statistical district Zaa ...

) is a Dutch

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

specializing in competitive

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and p ...

and cyclo-cross. Al rode his first mountain bike race in 1995.Biografie Thijs Al
thijsal.com, ret 2008-01-12 In his junior years Al proved to be a talented rider and was already selected for the junior European and World Championships in 1997 after his 4th position at the Dutch national Championships. At the European Championships in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

he did not come further than the 91st position, but at the World Championships in Switzerland his 36th position was a better result. That year he finished in a first position in the Rabobank Topcompetitie and in second place for the Benelux Cup. He won his first Dutch national title in 1998 and successfully defended his Rabobank Topcompetitie title. At the European Championships in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

he finished in 42nd position, but again he performed much better at the World Championships, towards a 17th position in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. After a successful year in 1998 he was invited to ride for the Be-One Europe team, which was the junior team for the Be-One World team. In 1999, his first professional year he had a tough time keeping up with his opponents, mainly due to the longer distances of the races. In the Rabobank Topcompetitie he only finished in third position, while at the Dutch national Championships he had to be satisfied with a 4th place. At the European (28th) and World Championships (47th) he ended up among the anonymous riders. 2000 however brought him better results, he won a mountain bike race in Lemelerveld and a road race in

Beverwijk Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coas ...

. He became Dutch national mountain bike champion under-23 and he came home with a third place and bronze medal at the European under-23 Championships in Rhenen as a highlight. At the World Championships he finished in 44th position this time. In 2001 Al showed a lot of progression. He won three races in the challenge for the Belgian Cup and finished second in another race for this cup. He won more mountain bike races in Den Helder, Bergschenhoek and Roc d'Azur, while he won road races in

Zwanenburg Zwanenburg () is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and lies about 11 km west of Amsterdam. Zwanenburg has a population of around 7,670.Statistics Netherlands (CBS), ''Gemeen ...

, Roden and Venhuizen. He finished second in the Norg Topcompetitie, first in the Topcompetitie Espoirs and second in the Topcompetitie Experts. After finishing in second position at the Dutch mountain bike championships he promoted his bronze European Championships medal into a silver one. He also finished 2nd at the Dutch national road championships, surprising all his regular road racing opponents. As a result, he was selected to participate at the road race World Under-23 Championships where he finished 42nd. The Be-One team retired in 2002 and Al moved to the BankGiroLoterij team. This team mainly focused on road races and Al gained quite some experiences. In the Three-days of Norg he won the second stage, while he finished second in the

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

and the first stage and third in the third stage, resulting in a third place overall.2002
thijsal.com, ret 2008-01-12 He also won the Kuinre Topcompetitie, but Al's heart for tracks with mud and the friendly atmosphere in mountain bike competitions made him not renew his contract at the end of the year. Back on the mountain bike he became Dutch national champion again and he won the Topcompetitie Espoirs, while finishing second for the Topcompetitie Experts. Together with his sponsor he created a team that was only focused on qualifying for the 2004 Summer Olympics. 2003 was also his first season as a full professional rider. However he participated as an under-23 rider in

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional road bicycle racing, bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling m ...

and won the race that ended in the

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement c ...

. Al won a road race in

Groot-Ammers Groot-Ammers is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Molenlanden, and is located about 13 km southeast of Gouda on the southside of the Lek River. In 2001, the town of Groot-Ammers had 2822 inha ...

and won mountain bike races in Berlicum,

Oss OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

and Brakel where he outsprinted Filip Meirhage. In the Dutch Championships for elite riders he finished second In 2004 he started with a win in the beach race of

Egmond aan Zee Egmond aan Zee () is a village on the North Sea coast in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, about 9 km west of Alkmaar. Egmond aan Zee was a separate municipality until 1978, when it merged wit ...

, another race in Nieuwkuijk and one in

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. The ...

. He also won the OZ Wielerweekend, finished in 15th position at the European Championships in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. Afterwards he became fifth at the Dutch national championships, but third at the Benelux Championships. Al qualified and represented the Netherlands at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

where he finished in 25th position while his teammate Bart Brentjes won the bronze medal. Al rode in the Giant Mountainbike Racing Team alongside Brentjens in 2005, a great opportunity to learn, but due to the many races in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and the travels to and from there his performances dropped down. From 2006 on he became one of the main riders in the Bejan-Rings Pro Cycling Team and he was allowed to schedule his own training program. This was also the period that he got more interested in cyclo-cross. He still became third at the Dutch national mountain bike championships, but afterwards his main results were from the cyclo-cross, among those his second position in Veghel-Eerde and his third position in Hofstade.2006
thijsal.com, ret 2008-01-12 In 2007 he managed to ride himself into the top three in Huijbergen and Zeddam, while in 2008 he became third in the Centrumcross in Surhuisterveen and second at the Dutch national cyclo-cross championships in Sint-Michielsgestel.

Career highlights

;European ChampionshipsResults of Thijs Al
cyclingwebsite.net, ret 2008-01-12 :2000 - 3rd,

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

(under-23) :2001 - 2nd,

(under-23) ;Dutch National Championships :1998 - 1st,

(juniors) :2000 - 1st,

(under-23) :2001 - 2nd,

road race Road racing, road race of road racer may refer to: * Road racing in motorsport * Road running on foot * Road bicycle racing * ''Road Race'', initial name of 1976 arcade game ''Fonz'' (video game) * Roadracers (1994 film) * Roadracers (1959 fi ...

(under-23) :2002 - 1st,

(under-23) :2003 -

Zoetermeer Zoetermeer () is a city in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950. By 2013 this had grown to 123,328 ...

, 2nd,

:2006 -

Noorbeek Noorbeek ( li, Norbik, English: ''Noor brook'') is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten (Limburgish: ''Megraote'') and about 12 km southeast of Maastricht. Noorbeek is one of th ...

, 3rd,

:2008 - Sint-Michielsgestel, 2nd, cyclo-cross :2008 - 1st,

(elite) ;Other achievements :1997 -

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, 1st, Rabobank Topcompetitie :1997 -

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a Political union, politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in ...

, 2nd, Benelux Cup :1998 -

, 1st, Rabobank Topcompetitie :1999 -

, 3rd, Rabobank Topcompetitie :2001 - Norg, 2nd, Norg Topcompetitie :2001 -

, 1st, Topcompetitie Espoirs :2001 -

, 2nd, Topcompetitie Experts :2002 - Norg, 1st, Second Stage, Norg 3 daagse :2002 - Norg, 3rd, Norg Topcompetitie :2002 - Kuinre, 1st, Kuinre Topcompetitie :2002 -

, 1st, Topcompetitie Espoirs :2002 -

, 2nd, Topcompetitie Experts :2003 -

Egmond-pier-Egmond Egmond-pier-Egmond is a men's and women's beach mountainbiking event held annually in Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivisio ...

, 3rd, Egmond Strandrace :2003 -

Voroklini Voroklini (), more commonly and unofficially known as Oroklini ( el, Ορόκλινη), is a village in Larnaca District, Cyprus, to the north-east of Larnaca. Its population in 2011 was 6,134, and is mainly divided between Cypriot and British re ...

, 2nd, Voroklini Cyprus :2003 - Berlicum, 1st, mountain bike :2003 -

Cassis Cassis (; Occitan: ''Cassís'') is a commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera, in Southern France. In 2016, ...

, 3rd, mountain bike :2003 -

, 1st, under-23 :2003 - Havelte, 2nd, mountain bike :2003 - Haren, 2nd, road race :2003 -

, 1st, mountain bike :2003 -

Wageningen Wageningen () is a municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a population of in , of which many ...

, 3rd, road race :2003 -

, 1st, road race :2003 - Brakel, 1st, Beker van België, mountain bike :2003 - Winterslag, 2nd, Beker van België, mountain bike :2003 - Gieten, 2nd, mountain bike :2004 -

, 1st, mountain bike, beach race :2004 - Berlicum, 2nd, mountain bike :2004 - Thieusies, 2nd, mountain bike :2004 - Nieuwkuijk, 1st, mountain bike :2004 -

, 1st, mountain bike :2004 - Machairas, 3rd, Afxenteia MTB Stage :2004 -

, 1st in General Classification, OZ Wielerweekend,

:2004 -

, 3rd, mountain bike, Benelux Championship :2004 - Gieten, 2nd, mountain bike :2005 - Marle, 3rd, cyclo-cross :2006 - Veghel-Eerde, 2nd, cyclo-cross :2006 - Hofstade, 3rd, cyclo-cross :2007 - Huijbergen, 3rd, cyclo-cross :2007 - Zeddam, 3rd, cyclo-cross :2008 - Surhuisterveen, 3rd, Surhuisterveen Centrumcross, cyclo-cross

External links

* *
Al at the Dutch Olympic ArchiveThijs Al photos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Al, Thijs 1980 births Living people Dutch male cyclists Dutch mountain bikers Cross-country mountain bikers Cyclo-cross cyclists Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of the Netherlands Sportspeople from Zaanstad Cyclists from North Holland 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch people

Career highlights

See also

External links

References