Joost
Brinkman

Standing almost two metres tall, Joost’s towering and imposing figure doesn’t match his endearing and friendly nature, with the Dutch native talkative and outgoing, something that is reflected in his love for the sport.

“I’m a pretty social guy I would say and I get energy and happiness from others. For example, in a race if I pull the sprint and we get a result, then I get joy from that too.”

Joost got into cycling through going for rides with his dad, firstly on the mountain bike before taking up road racing and then finally combining the two with cyclocross at around 12 years old. Falling in love from that young age, cycling has been a great outlet for Joost.

“I’ve always been a chaotic person and cycling was something for me to put all my energy into and I really like the suffering aspect of it actually – when it’s just you out on the road doing some training efforts or going hard in a race.”

Making the step up from juniors to U23 with the Development program this season, Joost picked up a series of impressive results across the 2020 campaign in his final year in the junior ranks. A win at GP Bob Jungels over a tricky course ahead of fellow new Development Team DSM rider, Moritz Kärsten, was a highlight but good results across the board in races such as Ronde des Vallées and Course de la Paix highlight his versatility.

“It’s quite hard to say what type of rider I am but I think I see myself more as a mix between TT and classics, but I also had quite a good punch on the short climbs in the junior races, so who knows.”

On board with the team’s professional approach and way of riding, something that is similar to his old junior team, Joost is hoping to learn as much as possible in his first few years with the team and be a part of some strong results.