Iris Slappendel

Iris Slappendel at the Sparkassen Giro Bochum (2014) in the jersey she designed for the UCI

Iris Slappendel (born February 18, 1985 in Gouda ) is a former cyclist and graphic designer from the Netherlands .

Athletic career

After Slappendel had won the bronze medal at the UCI Road World Championships in 2003 in the individual time trial of the junior women, she began her international cycling career in the elite category in 2004 with the Dutch cycling team Vrienden van het Platteland . In 2008 she became the student world champion in the individual time trial. During World Cup races Open de Suède Vårgårda she won in 2010 with her then team Garmin-Cervélo the team time trial . In 2012 she switched to the Rabobank Women Cycling Team and thus became an assistant to the multiple world champion Marianne Vos . At the same time, she was able to achieve her first individual World Cup victory in the one-day race of the Open de Suède Vårgårda this year when she defeated Hanka Kupfernagel , with whom she ran away, in a two-man sprint. In the overall ranking of the 2012 Women's Cycling World Cup , she finished seventh; In 2014 she won the World Cup sprint ranking. Also in 2014 she became Dutch road champion.

In September 2016, Slappendel announced on her website that she had ended her cycling career. Her last race was the Gateway Cup in Missouri on September 5, 2016, which she finished as the winner.

After her active career, Slappendel founded the Cyclists' Alliance , a professional association of female cyclists, together with Carmen Small, who also retired from active sport, and the active athlete Gracie Elvin .

Professional

Iris Slappendel completed her training in industrial product design in 2007. 2013 she became known by being the competition of the International Cycling Union to redesign the classification jerseys of UCI Road World Cup women won, so their designs based on their jerseys the leading riders in this series from the year 2014 award.