"I have GREAT news to share! We started the new year with a wonderful surprise. Noa is about to become a big sister! 🩵🩷".

With this social media message, the Dutch Champion Chantal van den Broek Blaak just announced the end of her professional cycling career and the beginning of new personal adventures and challenges.

"I had imagined my last season differently, giving one last push with the national champion's jersey. But above all, I feel super happy and grateful for what awaits me. There is no more beautiful reason to say goodbye. Looking back, I am proud of everything I have achieved in my cycling career. It has been an incredible journey. Cycling has been the best life lesson I could receive, and this sport will always be in my heart. Exciting times are ahead!" says the 35-year-old rider from SD Worx Protime.

Her career was of excellent level, reaching its peak with the world champion jersey won in Bergen, Norway, at the 2017 World Road Race Championship. Married since 2019 to former cyclist Lars van den Broek, she had skipped the 2023 season to give birth to the couple's first child, then returned to racing in 2024 and won her third elite national title. Now the family is expanding, and Chantal is saying goodbye to the peloton for the sweetest cause imaginable. Congratulations!