Rally Cycling has signed Arvid de Kleijn of the Netherlands for the 2021 season. The 26-year-old is the first new recruit to be announced for the 2021 season and joins from the Riwal Securitas Cycling Team.
De Kleijn represents a milestone for the team, as the first-ever European to race for the men’s program.
“The first time I spoke with Jonas [Carney] was in the beginning of July. He told me about the structure of the team and the plan they have with me as a sprinter,” said de Kleijn. “I was immediately enthusiastic and felt a really good vibe. I’m flattered that I will be the first European on the team.”
Although the Dutchman is primarily a pure sprinter, he can also hold his own in one-day classic races. This is evidenced by his impressive sixth place at this year’s grueling Dutch National Road Race Championships around the ‘Col du VAM’ cobbled climb where only 17 riders finished.
“We were searching for a pure sprinter who had already shown the ability to produce results in Europe at the .1 and higher level,” said performance director Jonas Carney. “Arvid fits that description.”
Some of de Kleijn’s best results have come from bunch kicks including his 2019 Druivenkoers – Overijse victory, and win at the 2017 Sluitingsprijs Putte-Kapellen. He also placed second on general classification in the 2019 Tour de Normandie.
Despite the pandemic shortened calendar, de Kleijn has had plenty of success earlier this season. He claimed third in stage 5 of the Saudi Tour behind Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain – McLaren) and Nacer Bouhanni (Team Arkéa Samsic), two well established WorldTour sprinters, and fourth in stage 2 of La Route d’Occitanie behind Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain – McLaren) and Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels – Vital Concept p/b KTM).
“Arvid is a young rider with room to improve and he has shown incredible consistency over the last few years,” added Carney. “He’ll be our go-to guy when there is a bunch kick and we expect him to have a lot of opportunities in 2021.”
The team looks forward to welcoming Arvid de Kleijn to its ranks for the 2021 season. More roster announcements are expected over the coming weeks.
