Harm Vanhoucke

A new member to the team in 2023, Harm joins after a promising U23 career which saw him take numerous top results such as winning Piccolo Il Lombardia; while more recently as a professional he has shown his credentials as a climber with second on GC at the Tour de l’Ain and Sibiu Tour plus several other good results including two third places on stages at the Giro d’Italia.

Harm hopes that the change of scenery will revitalize his career and unlock the potential he believes he has.

“In U23 I was a good GC rider, but I’ve found that harder the last few years. I think the new team and new atmosphere will help. Here at Team DSM everything is within the team, and I don’t have to look for things myself. I only have to think about going out to train, eating, sleeping and then racing. That is something I like a lot.”

Looking a bit further back, Harm hails from one of the cycling heartlands in the form of West Flanders in Belgium yet he wasn’t originally drawn to the bike as a potential sport. Initially a footballer, playing in midfield where he could put his endurance talents to good use, Harm eventually started to lose interest in kicking a ball and started looking for something else to do.

Following in his father’s footsteps, who was also a cyclist for a short while, Harm took up racing and hasn’t looked back since. As a youngster he got better and better and as a result started to like the sport even more. Nowadays as a professional, he really likes all the preparations that go into being at the top.

“The feeling you have that you’re one of the best and that you’ve really worked and prepared for that moment, that’s what puts the most fun into the sport for me.”

Away from that, he really likes training too and not just the racing. The ability to be outside in nature and seeing a variety of different places around the world and some stunning and beautiful landscapes inspires Harm to get on his bike. Equally, as a competitive person he always wants “to be better than yesterday”.

Harm dubs himself as “motivated” – as he’s always looking to become a better athlete, “perseverant” – as he always keeps going, even in the tough moments, and finally “selfish at times”. Harm admits the last one isn’t maybe the nicest word but to be at the top of the sport then you have to put yourself first at times, saying no to hanging out with friends so you can go training and so on, but in the end it is a team sport so “when you are the leader, then you need to motivate everyone to go for those goals.”

A fan of the sport, Harm’s idol when he was in his earlier years was Geraint Thomas, and it was a “really cool experience” to ride alongside the Welshman in his opening years as a professional.

Away from cycling, Harm is a proper family man and enjoys spending time at home with his wife and kid – the latter of which he has an adorable tattoo of their hand on his chest.