Tim is known for the fact that he has to train very hard to be able to accomplish this challenge. Luckily for the team and himself, he is actually looking forward to this tough period and has freed up substantial amounts of his time to make the Tour for KiKa a success! Tim thinks it is a bit cold in The Netherlands at the moment, but never too cold to mount his new bike.

Elmer is 31 years old, lives in Rotterdam and works for TNO Construction & Subsoil in Delft in the Infrastructure & Planning department. From childhood the bicycle seemed to be a trusted friend to Elmer, but he only rode his first km’s on a racing bike in 2004 in preparation of Liege-Bastogne-Liege. After the first Marmotte in 2008 he was finally convinced that cycling in the mountains, in France or anywhere else, is the best way to pleasantly exhaust oneself. Vital aspects in cycling: good company, safe descent, good food and a packed I-pod. With the Tour for KiKa he trusts to create a lot of enthusiasm, resulting in a substantial donation for KiKa and an unforgettable sports event.

Pico is 32 years old and has been living in Hamburg for 2 years. Pico works for Vopak as a terminal manager. After an intensive sailing career he picked up the racing bike. He rode his first 100+ km in the Amstel Gold Race in 2006. Upon this great experience he immediately bought a new bike and started to cycle more. He will fight for KiKa like Kenny van Hummel did in the Tour of 2009!

Jolmer is, but also considers himself to be, the patriarch of the pack. He is 36, married and father of 2 (naturally) beautiful children, who cycle themselves as well (with training wheels though). Jolmer is trying to establish his own asset management partnership with an unconventional philosophy. He wrote a booklet on this, which can be found on investmentillusion.com. His goal is to raise as many funds as possible for KiKa and to tackle the Tourmalet ahead of all the young guys (either cycling or crawling).

Pepijn has just turned 30 and lives in The Hague together with his girlfriend Eva. After graduating in Civil Engineering in Delft he accepted a job as installation engineer with Kahn Shipping in the department Jumbo Offshore. Next to field hockey and running he increased his cycling time considerably since last summer. Up to now he only climbed on the slopes of the hills in Limburg and cycled utmost 150 km in 1 day. Some more sizable challenges will come this year, with riding the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold Race, Steven Rooks Classic and Waalse Pijl. The true hurdle however will lie in the Tour for KiKa with its 3600 km and Alp and Pyrenees’ giants. Follow Pepijn on twitter

Thijs is 27 years old, lives in The Hague and works for KPN as product manager in the internet portfolio of the small and midsized company segment. For years he has been a fanatic field hockey player, but ever since his first Amstel Gold Race in 2008, at the time still in hockey shorts and hooded sweater, he is also a great supporter of cycling. The acquisition of a “real” bike, “real” gear and a trip to Bourg d’Oisans to participate in the Marmotte, persuade him to accept this sportive challenge and support the KiKa foundation.

Joost (30) lives in Amsterdam and works in The Hague at Hi. His true passion is football, but an injury 2 years ago resulted in locking away his football boots permanently and the acquisition of a racing bike. He regularly participates in cycling classics in the Netherlands and Belgium since. His girlfriend temporarily works on Mallorca, the training island for many pro-teams, so he has an ideal destination to improve his climbing skills.

Joost is determined to cycle every meter of the Tour for KiKa and hopes to collect a sizable sponsor amount for KiKa.

Simon is the benjamin of the group. He is 25 years old and will graduate from his study Medicine at the Medical Faculty of the University of Rotterdam in August 2010. In a later stage he wishes to become a Trauma Surgeon. Simon was partner in the company Kojac in Delft for 2 years, which enabled him to experiment with the entrepreneurship.

The best tours he cycled so far are the Amstel Gold Race and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Simon has been living in San Francisco for 6 months to perform research at the Orthopaedic Trauma Institute. San Francisco is a magnificent training location to prepare for the Tour KiKa. He joined the ThirstyBear cycling team there, so he does not have to bend for his team mates in the Netherlands after his return. His goal is to prevent as much as possible that the benjamin has to supply the others and therefore will cycle mainly at the front of the bunch.

With a promised massage on his mind Joost and 2 friends accomplished a cycle tour from Delft to Doetinchem in 1998. Despite the soar buttocks this made him see that cycling was his thing. With the Tour for KiKa Joost is seeking to complete his cycling career. In the past 12 years he cycled nearly everything in the Benelux, but in July the Alps and Pyrenees are awaiting him. Joost accepts this challenge, but is not sure he can do it. With KiKa as a cause, he will work extra hard to make this work! Besides, Joost lives in The Hague where he works as a civil servant.

Matthias is 35 years old and just got married in France with Noor. A this point he is still working at the dutch mail TNT and therefore he knows everything about logistical processes and change management. With it's 1,86m and 82 kg he is considerd a heavy weight and will have a hard time catching up with it's teammates.

Road biking is the leftover from a couple of years of rowing at the dutch rowing association Nereus in Amsterdam. 

Matthias hopes that with this biking project we will be able to raise the 100.000 euro's for the Kika Association (www.kika.nl).

Follow Matthias on twitter and it's personal page

Lucas, born on 29-04-1980 in the picturesque Tilburg and living in Amsterdam, is an orthopaedic surgeon in training. Besides fast cycling he is a real handyman. His finest cycling moment he experienced on the Mont Ventoux, which he climbed with his girlfriend!

For the first time in his life he is paying attention to his body this consciously. He enjoys the fact that this improves him considerably. Finishing the Tour for KiKa Lucas finds a brilliant challenge, where he also enjoys the organisation of this event.

For Jeroen this cycling adventure started 3 years ago when he got the discarded bike of his brother Robbert as a gift. Recently he exchanged it for a brand-new slick Koga-Miyata, which suits him well. As manager at Deloitte he advises European real estate companies how to realise their strategic goals. In the French mountains it is entirely up to him to set the strategy.

During the Tour for KiKa Jeroen will bring tranquillity and will supply sufficient bad jokes. Next to the ultimate sportive challenge, the Tour is also an unforgettable experience with a group of special friends for him. The Tour for KiKa clearly indicates that nothing is impossible: with sufficient courage and enthusiasm a silly idea can become an unprecedented experience. After the Tour Jeroen will again focus on setting new mile stones with his girlfriend Iris.

Ben supervises the Tour for KiKa in the training stage by applying specific training programs in order to maximise the endurance. Besides this, he performs periodic tests on the team to measure the developments.

Ben works 3 days a week as a sports physiologist in Abcoude. Next to this he lectures twice a week at the faculty of Physiotherapy of the Hogeschool Amsterdam. Via SportConsultancyAmsterdam field hockey clubs can hire him as a professional trainer/coach.

Ben can be found in the Alps a couple of times a year, but then mostly on skis. On the racing bike his ambition for this year is to perform well in several amateur races.

He truly admires the Tour for KiKa boys and wishes them many and safe kilometers.