Folkert Gerrits, an OCM hill sprint legend. Folkert grew up in Wahlwiller, in the most southern part of Limburg. From his bedroom he could see the cycling tourists slowly ascending the Kruisberg. From his perspective this looked very silly. Why all this suffering, why all this effort?
But when some hipster gave away his retro bike for free, he gave it a try himself and that changed his perspective on cycling entirely. To his own surprise he was a gifted cyclist by nature. Hills were his specialty, due to the surroundings but also due to his physique: not so tall, low weight and sprinting fibers in his legs. In the youth categories nobody could follow Folkert when he accellerated uphill. And on a very good day he was able to beat the sprinters in a bunch sprint as well.
At the age of 22 his talent was recognized by Lamme Frans of the V02maXXers CT, who picked him up while Folkert...
Read moreFolkert Gerrits, an OCM hill sprint legend. Folkert grew up in Wahlwiller, in the most southern part of Limburg. From his bedroom he could see the cycling tourists slowly ascending the Kruisberg. From his perspective this looked very silly. Why all this suffering, why all this effort?
But when some hipster gave away his retro bike for free, he gave it a try himself and that changed his perspective on cycling entirely. To his own surprise he was a gifted cyclist by nature. Hills were his specialty, due to the surroundings but also due to his physique: not so tall, low weight and sprinting fibers in his legs. In the youth categories nobody could follow Folkert when he accellerated uphill. And on a very good day he was able to beat the sprinters in a bunch sprint as well.
At the age of 22 his talent was recognized by Lamme Frans of the V02maXXers CT, who picked him up while Folkert was still a semi-pro. He adapted quickly to the higher level of competition in the OCM. At a very young age he won all the classifications in Fast on Wheels. Other major career wins are: SC jersey in Perm, Rotterdam Classic and Lappi Sea GP. At some point he left the V02maXXers team to try his luck elsewhere, but this didn't really work out. Even at the legendary team Tirilla he was unable to perform at his usual high level. At the end of his career he returned to his old team to retire. Within a few months time he will get a new role in the team as the personal trainer of Femi Tshiela, whose abilities are very similar to Folkert's. He will learn a lot from the old master.
Netherlands