Today (April 9th) is the birthday of Linda Villumsen. The former top cyclist, who rode for teams like Team Columbia Women and Wiggle Honda, turns 40 today. Over the course of her impressive career, the rider—born in Herning, Denmark—stood on the podium of the World Time Trial Championships no fewer than six times.
In 2015, Villumsen even claimed the world time trial title in Richmond, narrowly beating Van der Breggen. And that was special, as it remains the first and only elite gold medal ever won by a New Zealander at a Road World Championship. The bronze she won in Geelong in 2010 was in fact the first and only elite medal for New-Zealand in the history of the Road World Championships.
Which other riders have recently changed their nationality? And what top riders changed nationality in the past? And which riders were notorious passport-collectors? Check it out below.
| # | Rider | Born in | Nationalities held | Last nat. change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GREEN Siméon | Great Britain France | 2025 | |
| 2 | MARECZKO Jakub | Italy Poland | 2025 | |
| 3 | BLAZEVIC Jonathan | Canada Croatia | 2025 | |
| 4 | VOLAVKA Charlie Bear | Hongkong Australia | 2025 | |
| 5 | ESTEVEZ Daniel Enrique | Dominican Republic United States | 2024 | |
| 6 | PRATT Jessica | Australia Malta | 2024 | |
| 7 | GEBRU Eyeru Tesfoam | Ethiopia Refugee | 2024 | |
| 8 | VAN DER TUUK Danny | Netherlands Poland | 2024 | |
| 9 | MIFSUD Andrea | France Malta | 2024 | |
| 10 | BERTOLD Isabella | Canada Germany | 2024 |
| # | Rider | Born in | Nationalities held | Last nat. change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MARECZKO Jakub | Italy Poland | 2025 | |
| 2 | LAGUTIN Sergey | Uzbekistan Russia | 2023 | |
| 3 | SIVAKOV Pavel | Russia France | 2022 | |
| 4 | RAILEANU Cristian | Moldova Romania | 2022 | |
| 5 | BENEDETTI Cesare | Italy Poland | 2021 | |
| 6 | GASPAROTTO Enrico | Italy Switzerland | 2019 | |
| 7 | BUJAK Eugenia | Poland Slovenia | 2018 | |
| 8 | ZABELINSKAYA Olga | Russia Uzbekistan | 2018 | |
| 9 | DUQUE Leonardo Fabio | Colombia France | 2015 | |
| 10 | HEINE Vita | Latvia Norway | 2014 |
| # | Rider | Born in | Nationalities held | #nats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TCHMIL Andrei | Russia Moldova Ukraine Belgium | 4 | |
| 2 | DÉR Žolt | Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro Serbia Hungary | 4 | |
| 3 | DE MAAR Marc | Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Curaçao United States | 4 | |
| 4 | MENAPACE Richard | Italy Germany Austria | 3 |
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