Tosh Van der Sande warns of cycling’s extremes - 'I cancelled family dinners to weigh my food'

After 14 years in the professional peloton, including 10 years with Lotto and four with Jumbo-Visma/Visma | Lease a Bike, the 34-year-old Belgian has witnessed a dramatic transformation in cycling's approach and culture.

"Don't lose yourself in numbers and wattage. Cycling isn't just about data, but also about instinct, courage and love for cycling," Van der Sande warned young riders in his retirement message posted previously on Instagram.

The increasing professionalisation of youth cycling particularly concerns him. He deliberately waited until age 21 to turn professional, despite earlier offers.

“I had the luxury to wait back then, but today’s young riders can’t do that anymore. Everything moves so fast,” he explained. “The big difference is that compared to my time, young riders are now much more professional. There are even juniors doing altitude training now. I was 30 when I did my first altitude camp,” Van der Sande told Het Nieuwsblad.

Nutrition is another area where he has seen the sport become extreme.

“You become so focused on it that you push yourself to extremes. At one point I started cancelling family dinners because I needed to weigh my food. And when I did attend family celebrations, I brought my own pre-weighed meals while everyone else was enjoying something delicious,” he recalled.

“I would advise younger riders not to go too far with this. It’s mentally very taxing. You need to find a middle ground.”

Van der Sande questions whether careers can remain sustainable under such conditions.

“I think without all these changes I would have had a longer career. You feel all these things creating more and more pressure. They check your sleep, every training session can be analysed in the smallest details,” he said.

“It’s impressive to see how almost everyone has become better and stronger, but there’s another side to that coin. Those who follow these strict rules from a young age, with few exceptions, won’t have long careers. Around ten years is roughly the average for pros, and I’m quite certain that will decrease in the future.”

During his final years at Visma | Lease a Bike, Van der Sande found fulfilment mentoring younger riders.

“Those young guys are only concerned with their computers. There’s so much selection based on wattage tests and watts per kilo, but they don’t really understand racing itself,” he said. “It was super fun helping them develop racing instincts that you can’t learn from a book, only through experience.”

Looking ahead, Van der Sande hopes to stay involved in the sport, possibly as a sports director with a U23 team, though he acknowledges such roles are highly competitive.

His most cherished career highlights include multiple top-10 finishes at the 2016 Vuelta a España and his strong 2021 season, when he placed in the top 10 at both Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Amstel Gold Race.