Huizinga crowned his season on Sunday by winning the national all-round title in Thialf. After finishing second in the 5 kilometers of the World Cup Qualifying Tournament, he was allowed to compete internationally and has now also won a ticket for Inzell after the World Distance Championships in Calgary. In the absence of Patrick Roest, Huizinga had put a lot of pressure on himself. “He is really the better one,” Huizinga said about the strong man from Reggeborgh. “I want to win, that’s why you are a top athlete. It’s up to me to hunt down Patrick. He is the best at home and abroad in the 5 kilometers, wins them all. I know how big the gap is, where I have to go. That’s what I work for.”
The first step was winning the National Allround Championships. “A relief that it worked,” he continued. “Things have been going well all year round. It’s not said out loud, but I have to take my chances. This was also such an opportunity and I grabbed it with both hands.” At the age of 26 he has won his first National Championship title. “It took a long time, but I managed to get some podium places along the way. Now I have maintained my level from October to March, which is very special. I can continue to build on that, and the coming years will be very important.”
Huizinga rode to a neat personal record in the ten kilometers: 12.56.92. | Photo: Soenar Chamid
Huizinga has been riding for Jac Orie’s formation since 2017, but says he needed a lot of time to develop into a top skater. National Championship bronze in the 1500 meters was followed up last season by a disappointing season. This year Huizinga got the hang of it again. “The road to the top has some twists and turns,” he noted. “You are confronted with that the moment you take the step from juniors to seniors, that step is big and it takes a few years. I’m glad it finally worked out.”
The 26-year-old Huizinga is now assured of a ticket for the World Allround Championships, in two weeks in Inzell. That tournament was dominated by Dutch skaters in the past, but that is a thing of the past. “Internationally, the top is broader, the Italians and Norwegians have become stronger,” Huizinga explains the Dutch position. “The old guard is still involved, I am growing and learning from them. There is still room for improvement.”
Huizinga’s shorter distances in particular still need to improve to get an international foot in the door at the all-round tournaments. “They are not great at the moment, while the long distances are very good. But you have to drive short distances well to be allowed to drive 10 kilometers at all. Hopefully I can tighten that up a bit towards the World Cup.”
In the ultimate flow, Kars Jansman grabs a World Cup ticket
Following in Huizinga’s footsteps, Kars Jansman rose above himself in a packed Thialf. After a season of nothing, the stayer started the 10 kilometers behind, but managed to set a beautiful personal record. 12.51.65 was on the board for the 28-year-old skater after 25 laps. Based on his 5 kilometers on Saturday, Jansman started the final event of the four-way event with confidence.
“Yesterday I also got into the flow during the 5 kilometers and I could barely stop at the finish,” he said. “Now I knew that it was possible again if I started the race calmly and managed to get into the flow again.” Jansman started the race as he had planned with coach Jac Orie: “I had agreed not to start too hard, slow down a bit to get into a rhythm. And from there I tried to wind down the race. That went easier than expected, at one point I even flew into my thirties, I really got into the flow and the audience got behind it. Then you know you are doing well.”
A great performance by Kars Jansman: he is also going to Inzell. | Photo: Soenar Chamid
Jansman had actually put all-round racing out of his mind. The long-distance specialist always performed well on the 5 and 10 kilometers, but fell short on the other distances. “I lost so much there that it was impossible to recover on those long songs. Ten years ago I thought I would no longer be an all-rounder at all. I couldn’t straighten it out then, but apparently I can now.”