Maarten Tjallingii

Maarten Pieter Tjallingii ( ; born 5 November 1977) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2016.

Career Maarten Tjallingii was born in Leeuwarden. He lost one of his kidneys as a child.

Tjallingii's biggest win was the 2006 Tour of Belgium. A frequent participant in breakaways in major races, his other most notable performances include a third place at the 2011 Paris–Roubaix and spending four days in the King of the Mountains jersey in the 2014 Giro d'Italia.

Tjallingii raced at the 2016 Giro d'Italia, which started in the Netherlands, and he made an impact on the early stages, winning the award for most aggressive rider on Stage 2 before taking the lead in the King of the Mountains competition on Stage 3, which finished 250 metres away from his home in Arnhem. He had previously announced that he would retire from racing in June, having signed a six-month contract extension with for 2016.

Major results

2001 3rd Overall Tour du Faso 1st Stage 2 2003 1st Overall Tour du Faso 1st Stage 1 1st Rund um Rhede 2004 2nd Cross-country, National Mountain Bike Championships 2005 5th Overall Tour of Qatar 2006 1st Overall Tour of Belgium 1st Stage 1 1st Overall Tour of Qinghai Lake 1st Stage 7 7th Overall Tour de Picardie 10th Overall Tour of Britain 2007 2nd Overall Tour of Belgium 4th Overall Danmark Rundt 6th Grote Prijs Gerrie Knetemann 7th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk 7th Overall Tour of Britain 7th Rund um den Henninger Turm 9th Omloop van het Houtland 10th Nokere Koerse 10th Ronde van het Groene Hart 2008 5th Profronde van Fryslan 6th Overall Tour of Belgium 7th Overall Tour of Qatar 2009 4th Grand Prix d'Isbergues 5th Overall Sachsen Tour 8th Overall Eneco Tour 2010 7th Overall Eneco Tour 2011 3rd Paris–Roubaix 2013 1st Stage 2 World Ports Classic 2014 Giro d'Italia Held after Stages 2–5 2015 1st Grote Prijs Beeckman-De Caluwé 2016 Giro d'Italia Held after Stage 3

Grand Tour general classification results timeline Grand Tour 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Giro d'Italia — 98 — — — 131 92 119 124 Tour de France — — 131 98 DNF — — — — Vuelta a España 58 — — — — — 137 DNF —

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish

Personal life During his career, Tjallingii was one of the few known vegetarian cyclists.