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 was selected to ride the 2012 Tour de France, but crashed on stage 3, he continued for another 40 km and finished it over ten minutes behind the winner Peter Sagan. However he did not start stage 4, reportedly with a fractured left hip, becoming the third retirement of the 2012 Tour. 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

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Personal life

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