Heroes Magazine 71

In Helden Magazine, top athletes share their inspiring stories, reveal their secrets and you get to know the person behind the top athlete. The ^71st edition of Heroes is also the first edition to be released in Belgium! This milestone is celebrated with two different athletes on the cover: Estavana Polman in the Netherlands and Wout van Aert in Belgium.

Estavana Polman has been one of the faces of the successful Dutch handball team for years. In the run-up to the Olympic qualifying tournament in April, she talks candidly about her relationship with Rafael van der Vaart, daughter Jesslynn, stepson Damián, her relationship with Sylvie Meis, injuries and her doubts.

All-rounder Wout van Aert will skip the Tour de France this year and opt for the Giro d'Italia for the first time. In the run-up to the Flemish classics and the Giro, he speaks out about the new route, Mathieu van der Poel, Visma-Lease a Bike and the Olympic Games.

Also in the 140-page edition:

• Anne Luijten has had a turbulent year. She ran the Olympic limit, got married, but also lost her most loyal fan: father Jos. In the run-up to the Rotterdam marathon, she tells her story.
• One of the new eye-catchers of women's football, Esmee Brugts , was chosen as Talent of the Year. At the age of twenty, she has become an indispensable part of the Lionesses and last summer she made a dream transfer to FC Barcelona.
• Collin Veijer is the hope of Dutch motorsport fans. For the first time in 33 years, the nineteen-year-old driver secured a Dutch GP victory last year. But who is he?
• Kevin De Bruyne won everything there is to win with Manchester City. Connoisseurs speak out about his unparalleled pedaling technique and fabulous insight, among other things.
• Jerdy Schouten is the conductor of upcoming national champion PSV. The experts are lyrical about the man who played in Italy for four years and is preparing for the European Championship with the Dutch team.
• Victoria Koblenko visits three-time Olympic swimming champion and seventeen-time world champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo .
• Japan's great Peter Aerts recently founded his own association LEGEND and helps his children, who have also chosen kickboxing.
• Khalid Boulahrouz faced Cristiano Ronaldo at the 2006 World Cup. Boula looks back on the battle against Portugal in which he was sent off and Ronaldo left the field injured because of him.
• In 2017, Bart Nieuwkoop became champion with Feyenoord. He moved on to Willem II and Union Sint-Gilles. Now he is back at the old nest and if it were up to him, he will never leave there again.
• Ian Thorpe is a swimming great. The Australian looks back on his rivalry and friendship with Pieter van den Hoogenband, The Race Of The Century, twenty years ago this year, and his downfalls.
• In 'The Day Everything Went Wrong', Sigi Lens and Edu Nandlal look back on the plane crash in Suriname. They survived the terrible SLM disaster that occurred 35 years ago.

Read the interviews, reports and much more in Helden Magazine 71.