Nick van der Lijke has been selected for the Dutch national cycling team to participate in the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. The 23 year old will be participating in the road race June 21st.

The European Games are to be held for the first time this year and are similar to the quadrennial Commonwealth Games. Coach Johan Lammerts already pre-selected the Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider last winter, and made that selection final on Thursday.

“I knew about my pre-selection, but I'm still surprised by the fact that my selection is final now," he said. "When Johan called me, I was with my girlfriend and she's incredibly proud of me. I'm proud of myself as well, but there's no time to dwell on that seeing as I have to race in the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday.”

Even though his focus is on Sunday's race, he's still well-informed about Baku's parcours.

“It's really my kind of race,” he continues. “The perfect scenario would be to take off with a small group. If that breakaway holds until the finish, I give myself a fair chance to beat my opponents in a sprint. But let's not jump the gun.”

Nick van der Lijke will be joined by: Niki Terpstra, Mathieu van der Poel, Pim Ligthart, Wouter Wippert and Stef Clement.