As a brother and sister, break together on the old Kwaremont

Hey, does he hear that well? Rick Pluimers is cycling on the Paterberg for the second and last time this Sunday, the Tour of Flanders is in the absolute final, and his legs are so soured that he feels like he is coming up crawling. Then he suddenly hears an encouragement that seems intended for someone else: « Come on Ilse! »

Afterwards, Pluimers can laugh about it. « No idea who that was, I saw squint at the time. » But it is not that strange, he says, because Ilse Pluimers, his sister, is driving her final at that time and has to cross the Paterberg.

Being with her brother is changed, that did not happen to her, Ilse Pluimers says a little later with her team bus. « I have often heard my own name. » The dust of a day long through the Flemish hills is still on her nose.

One had to get up early on Sunday to be on time in Bruges, the other could sleep in before she had to appear in Oudenaarde; Brother Rick (24) and sister Ilse (22) Pluimers were both at the start of the Tour of Flanders on Sunday. Rick for Tudor Pro Cycling, the Swiss team that is on the rise in the peloton, Ilse for the Belgian AG Insurance-Soudal, a team that is in the middle bracket of the women’s square. Rick recently won his first professional race, the Muscat Classic. Ilse won the European Championship for riders under the age of 23 in 2023.

Cycling is the two riders from the village of Enter in Twente. Grandpa Johan was as a sprinter with the amateurs a weally winner and could have become a professional, but was not allowed by his parents. Mother Monic cycled as a professional in the time of Leontien van Moorsel and father Gerrit was also a fanatic amateur rider; Rick and Ilse’s parents got to know each other at the cycling club.

And now there are Rick and Ilse. Brothers or sisters are more common in the peloton, such as Mathieu and David van der Poel, Adam and Simon Yates and formerly Frank and Andy Schleck. But Rick thinks that I and Ilse are the first brother-sister combination that participates in the Tour of Flanders together, he says two days before the competition. Whether that is true cannot be checked. The organization of the course wants it despite a request from NRC Not checking.

Bursa inflammation

Last year they were at the start for the first time. This year Ilse is taking part in her third edition, for Rick it is the second time; He had to get off during his first participation. Normally they would tease each other, they say. They like a bit of competition, and call each other regularly to talk about their existence as a professional. « If you both keep taking steps, then it will motivate. If I win, he wants it and vice versa, » says Ilse.

But with the failure of the 2024 edition, Rick is not bullied by his sister, she says. « Last year he was pathetic. He was struggling with pain but did not know what made it. » Rick had previously fallen in Milan -Sanremo, after which he got a bursa inflammation in his knee – something he only discovered after the Tour of Flanders.

He barely got his legs around last year, says Rick. Yet he drove to the first passage of the old Kwaremont. « I wanted to experience that. I think there are few days in cycling that there are so many people in a place along the course. It is just like a stadium there. » Even though he was busy with a hopeless mission, the cobblestone climb gave him goose bumps, says Rick. « Then I immediately entered the car. »

As a enthusiast, Rick knows the history of the Tour of Flanders. From the moment he received a bicycle helmet at the age of seven, Rick was devoted to the sport. He does training for fun, he sees himself going with a cycling holiday in the future.

Ilse went cycling because she saw her brother doing it. She kept gymnastics next to it, and only during her puberty did she really start cycling seriously. « I don’t know if I would have become a pro without Rick. »

Ilse will only be really enthusiastic when there is competition on the program. « I am not such a training animal, » says Ilse. « Do me a competition. » Do not come to her with the beauty of the course when she drives in a lost position. She drove up the Koppenberg last year at the back of Koers, she says. « At that time, those encouragement from mine did not have to be done. »

Sandwich at the gas station

They don’t get much from each other during the Tour of Flanders. From the hotels where their teams are staying – Rick in Kortrijk, Ilse in Tielt – they left for the start on Sunday morning. Getting up, breakfast, bus trip, changing clothes, competition meeting, team presentation and then it’s time to go.

That’s how it always goes, says brother and sister, since they both cycle at the highest level. They are a lot on the road, for races or training camps, and see that at the top the differences between men and women have become smaller in recent years. While Rick received a sophisticated recovery meals in his driving team of Jumbo-Visma Rick (2020-2022), Ilse « had to get a sandwich at the gas station, » he says.

In recent years, much has improved for women in cycling, Ilse says, and the sport is being tackled a lot more professional. They now also have a nutrition coach and a new team bus, they stay in the same hotel as the men of Soudal Quick-Step. « We are doing well, » she says.

On Sunday the race has hardly started when Ilse thinks: today it will not be him. She misses the power she sometimes has. What plays in the back of her head: she knows that this is not her terrain. « Too many climbs in succession, » she says. She is a hard rider, thinks Paris-Roubaix the most beautiful day of the cycling calendar. In her eyes, the Paterberg is only fun because it is shorter than the other.

She used to want to throw her strength, Ilse, she always drove her head in the wind. « I can race very stupidly. » But she learned from her brother. « Rick can hide very well to save energy. His race insight is great. » On Sunday she puts her teammates in a good position at the Koppenberg and then drives quietly to the finish; She finishes 74th.

Break

Rick is in his element during hill classics such as the Tour of Flanders. « This course is me, » he says in advance. He is not yet of the level of Tadej Pogacar – who wins this edition after a nice demarrage during the third passage of the old Kwaremont – and Mathieu van der Poel, but as a ‘puncher’ with a good sprint he had intended to participate in the final for a long time.

He is still in the front of the course when the men climb the old Kwaremont for the second time. Then the big names go. Rick knows that he can wait too long before he takes an action, then he is too careful. « Then I am not in the right position at the right time. » But now he simply can’t go.

Just as his sister « is never afraid to break, » Rick is now there. The cramp shoots at the Paterberg, after the finish he moans to illustrate how he feels. « I have never felt that way, I had nothing left after the Paterberg, » he says afterwards. Yet he enjoyed; From the course, the beautiful circumstances, the crowded audience. He will be 24th. « It was really a great day. »

Ilse experienced it differently. « No, I thought it was a lot less. Of course the audience on those climbs was fat, but if it doesn’t work, then I can’t really enjoy it. » For her, the highlight of her season still has to come, during Paris-Roubaix.

Are they going to look back together on this Tour of Flanders? « I’m going to shower, change clothes and back to the hotel with the team, » says Rick. Tonight he drives home with his girlfriend. « I’ll call my parents. » Ilse stays in the hotel in Belgium to recover as well as possible for the coming weekend. « I’m going to call Rick this week to ask what it was like, » says Ilse. « Is he going to call my parents? Let me do that too. »

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