Ide Schelling is at pains to point out, repeatedly, that this is not a sad retirement story. He does not hate cycling. He does not despise what WorldTour cycling has become. He is not bitter that he no longer feels able to compete for top honours. He is still having fun as a professional cyclist and will always be a cyclist. But he has realised that there is more to life than being a WorldTour cyclist. Aged 27, the Dutchman is hanging up his professional racing wheels, and instead choosing to explore his other passions and interests, of which there are many.
“I really love building things,” Schelling tells Rouleur, just as he prepares for his last few races as a pro bike rider, a career which began in 2020 with Bora-hansgrohe and has included three wins and a stint in the Tour de France’s polka dot jersey. “My dad [Onno] has been a furniture maker his whole working life, and I was in his workshop from a young age, making things with my own hands.” Over the years, the younger Schelling has built quite a catalogue of designs.
“I like to think I am a little bit creative, and I’ve enjoyed making bikes, designing bikes, painting them, and rebuilding them from the ground up from second hand parts,” the XDS Astana rider says. “Making something nice out of something cheap. When people look at something and say, ‘Oh fuck, what is that?’ I see potential in it. And then when I’m finished people say, ‘Ah, that’s a cool bike, or a lovely apartment.”
Bricks and mortar: that’s Schelling’s biggest interest. “I love rebuilding homes, buying an apartment and flipping them over. I see myself doing more of that in the future,” he says. In 2021, Schelling took on and completed his first property makeover. “I knew I was going to renew my contract with Bora and be on more than the minimum wage of €52,000 which I’d been on for the previous two years, so I went on Idealista [a property searching platform in Spain] and saw a small place in Girona on the river and by the city centre. It had been for sale for a while but was still available as it required a lot of work. I saw the potential in it.” Within a week he had bought it. “I fully designed everything from the floor to the ceiling, with the help of my family and girlfriend. We were there for over a month, renovating the entire place, having a great time, and making it a home. It was a great experience.”
Schelling and family take a small break from…