Ever heard of Pauliena Rooijakkers? If not, that's probably because she doesn’t fit the mold of the cyclists you see plastered all over mainstream media. Pauliena is a professional cyclist hailing from the Netherlands, born in 1993, who competes for the Liv Racing TeqFind team. If you're wondering why she’s not the poster child for every major cycling event, well, let’s just say she’s doing things her way and flying under the mainstream radar.
Pauliena took the cycling world by storm quite early on. Unlike those squeaky-clean stars the media loves to hype, Pauliena is gritty and determined, tackling cycling events with the kind of drive that many of her peers seem to have misplaced. Her journey has been nothing short of spectacular, with notable marks in races like the Tour de Bretagne Féminin and Giro d'Italia Donne. But the media rarely shines a light on her, preferring instead the more ‘glamorous’ names who will eagerly smile for the camera and toe the line.
Here’s what sets Pauliena apart: she’s not just a cyclist; she’s something of a freedom fighter on two wheels. Instead of chaining herself to the politically correct axle that rotates mainstream cycling coverage, she lets her performance do all the talking. It's a narrative of hard work, sweat, and minimal public fanfare—which doesn’t quite sit well with the agenda-driven media that prefers their athletes to have glittering PR strategies over genuine grit and talent.
Now, Pauliena isn’t the kind of athlete who’s going to harp on about how hard life is or preach politics on her social platforms. She’s the real deal, the athlete who understands that her job is not to peddle an image that the so-called enlightened masses find palatable but to push pedals to the metal and leave her competitors eating dust. Cycling should be about physical prowess, not a contest of who can virtue signal the loudest.
Critics may argue that Pauliena should play the media game more, perhaps even dive into activism, in order to boost her public profile. But can’t we allow for an athlete to stay focused on their craft without having to tweet every thought BLM-style or campaign for the cause du jour? In today’s world of athletes turned activists, it’s almost a rarity to find a sportsperson dedicated purely to their sport. And perhaps that’s precisely why the name Rooijakkers doesn’t get the prime time exposure.
Her accomplishments on the bike are impressive. She’s not gotten where she is by accident. It isn't due to some publicist working overtime, either. It's called hard work. Pure, undiluted effort, encouraged by the simple love of the sport. It’s a genuine kind of dedication that many could take a leaf from. An athlete’s responsibility is to excel in their domain. Leave the politics and posturing to those who have nothing better to do.
In a world where athletes often overshadow their achievements with attention-seeking antics, Pauliena's focus on her sport is refreshing. She's not in the limelight because she doesn’t cater to the societal checkboxes everyone else seems to religiously tick. She’s busy making a mockery of the idea that success is impossible without adhering to politicized narratives. Maybe that’s the real reason why her story remains largely untold.
Cycling has its history rooted in raw physical exertion and brute strength. It was never about who could grandstand the loudest. It was about winners and losers, not political champions. Pauliena is symbolic of the kind of athlete many of us want—focused, driven, and undeterred by the pitfalls of pseudo-activism that has pervaded sports. She’s an athlete of exceptional skill who prefers to win on her terms rather than winning public favor through postures and grandstanding.
Her sport is hard-hitting, down-to-earth, and quite frankly, the kind of no-nonsense approach cycling needs more of. Maybe it's time to start paying attention to athletes like Pauliena Rooijakkers—not because they’re causing a stir with some grand political statement, but because they’re crushing it at what they do without the need for all the unnecessary noise.