Kessler started her racing career excelling on rolling courses with punchy climbs and developing a strong sprint but in recent years has transitioned to more of a road captain’s role. She loves taking a leadership position and racing hard to support her teammates.

“I really like helping my team and guiding my teammates, taking a lot of responsibilities, and doing lead outs. Get the team together as a road captain and guide them in the finals. Those kinds of things. I have to say that I’m really good at reading the race and helping my teammates. I do love hard races,” she says.

Team general manager Esra Tromp values Kessler’s leadership qualities and will rely on her expertise in the races.

“Nina has lots of experience in different teams and different environments which is really helpful, especially for the young riders. She probably is not the rider who will win the most races but she is really important to the team to perform at a really high level because of her experience. She brings a lot to the race meetings but also in the peloton itself. In the race you need people with experience to make decisions and that is something Nina can do really well,” Tromp says.

Uniting the team on and off the bike is a major goal for Kessler. She knows how to push her teammates in training and races but also the importance of cracking jokes at the dinner table.

“I think I’m pretty good at motivating the team and the riders,” Kessler says. “Especially because we will spend so much time together, you always have ups and downs, so you want to be sure you’re always giving your teammates confidence. If you have the support of your team and you do whatever you can, it’s always good. I want to give my teammates that confidence and the message to just chill and do what you can.”

Growing up in the Netherlands, it’s no surprise that Kessler’s favorite races are the classics and that she loves a punchy course. Though she prefers one-day races, she does enjoy stage racing also.

“In stage races, I tend to get better every day or just less tired than everyone else. I can handle it pretty well. I think that’s because I have some distance in these legs already from all the years!”

Though she is already an experienced and knowledgeable racer, Kessler is not done pushing herself.

“I definitely have noticed that I’m still growing stronger. I make steps every year, like how my climbing is going better. I still have the feeling that I haven’t yet reached my top, top level. My goal is just to go deep in the finale of big races and then to play the game with the team. It doesn’t matter if it’s for me or for my teammates, I just want all of us to reach the best we can.”

When she’s not training or racing on the road, you’re likely to find Kessler training and racing on the beach. She took up beach racing – what Kessler describes as “mountain bikes on the beach with really big tires and really low pressure – around the time she was winding down her track racing career. During the winter, it satisfies Kessler’s competitive drive – she is the current Dutch beach racing national champion – but it’s also an opportunity to ride in a completely different environment, one that is fun but still challenges her.

There is more to the 35-year-old than just bikes, however. In her twenties, she balanced racing with studying and earned her bachelor’s degree in business economics. She then combined racing with a more traditional job, that of accountancy which she practiced for several years. But given that her family is also connected to cycling – both her parents are soigneurs and her siblings are big cycling fans – Kessler never seems to stray too far from the sport.

“It’s a pretty tough life to be in cycling,” she says. “You have a lot of lows but you know there will be a high. Going through bad moments makes the good moments even better and that’s what cycling has taught me. There will be more good moments for sure.”

Well said, Nina. Welcome to the squad!