Intermarché-Wanty announced a two-year extension with popular Dutch rider Taco van der Hoorn on Wednesday.
Van der Hoorn, winner of a stage in the Giro d’Italia and one-day races such as Omloop van het Houtland and the Brussels Cycling Classic, will remain with the team through 2026.
The 31-year-old has spent 16 months on the sidelines recovering from a severe concussion sustained in the 2023 Tour of Flanders and finally returned to racing this August. He claimed his first victory since his brain injury in the Betcity Elfstedenrace in October from a breakaway.
The team’s Performance Manager Aike Visbeek said the group missed him during his extended absence.
“Taco van der Hoorn is one of our most popular personalities, a rider who is admired by the fans for his aggressive racing style,” Visbeek said. “Together with Biniam Girmay, Louis Meintjes, Simone Petilli, Lorenzo Rota and Georg Zimmermann, he forms the core of the team on which we build our identity since our accession to the World Tour in 2021.
“Taco sets an example, he inspires his teammates with his temperament and good mood, which is why we missed him so much during his long absence. Upon his return in August, he was immediately ready to perform and managed to maintain this level until the end of the season. We are very happy to be able to count on him again in the coming seasons. Together, we will continue hunting victories, especially in the classics.”
Van der Hoorn was a relative latecomer to the WorldTour, signing with Jumbo-Visma in 2019 at the age of 25, following a successful season with Roompot that included a stage win in the BinckBank Tour.
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He joined Intermarché in 2021 and racked up three wins that year including his Giro d’Italia stage win where he held off the chasing peloton by a mere four seconds after being in the breakaway from kilometre zero.
Van der Hoorn came within millimetres of a Tour de France stage win in 2022, being narrowly out-paced by Simon Clarke from a five-man escape. He looked set for another shot at a victory in the Grand Tours in 2023 until his crash in the Tour of Flanders left him with a serious concussion.
With his long road to recovery over, Van der Hoorn said he has confidence in the future.
“It is difficult to summarize all the progress made over the past eighteen months, but I hope that my experience can serve as an example for anyone going through a dark period,” the affable Dutch rider said. “I’ve chosen to continue my career with Intermarché-Wanty, as we share the same vision.
“My personal ambition fits perfectly with the team’s objectives. I enjoy the full confidence of the sports directors in the races in which I believe I have a good chance of achieving a good performance. Moreover, thanks to the good atmosphere in the team, I always have a good time racing, which is an important factor for me.
“Finally, we have very competitive equipment. I feel involved with it and I feel listened to in the development of our equipment. I share the same vision as our Head of Equipment Mikey van Kruiningen, always seeking to push the limits together with our technical partners.”