At Rusty Stitches, we love all kinds of riding styles, whether it is cruising smooth asphalt or constantly bouncing off the rev limiter on mountain roads. This time, we have a real hardcore off-road rider on our hands. He tells us this kind of riding demands a unique mindset and absolute focus. It also helps to have zero fear of getting into trouble when sending a heavy adventure bike up tracks where most people would struggle to walk.

Benched in the dust at DARE
I caught up with Joop Nissink, better known to his followers as Rally Joop, at the Dutch Adventure Ride Experience (DARE) in Loon op Zand. It was a warm weekend on the beach of Experience Island in the Netherlands, with a constant haze of dust hanging over the event terrain and the smell of bikes being ridden hard.

We met up at the Leatt stand to have our chat. Unfortunately, Joop was not able to do any riding himself during the event. He had just suffered a knee injury, forcing him to watch the action from the sidelines. He was incredibly bummed to be benched while fellow riders like Pol Tarrés, Jacopo Cerutti, Kirian Mirabet, and Sandro Schmid were tearing up the sand. Seeing others push their limits on the track only fueled his hunger to get back on the bike.

We sat down to talk about his “sudden rise to fame”. Out of nowhere, he finished second overall in the Hard Adventure Rally class at the Red Bull Romaniacs. For those who don’t know, the Red Bull Romaniacs is widely considered the toughest hard enduro rally on earth. It is a brutal multi-day race through the steep Carpathian Mountains in Romania, designed to break both riders and machines. Finishing it is an achievement in itself, but reaching the podium is truly next level! Joop secured a 2nd place finish overall, standing on the podium right next to Dakar legend Sam Sunderland. He was the highest-placed amateur in the race, surviving four days of absolute torture for both man and machine.

Finishing it is an achievement in itself!

A thrill-seeker in the making

For Joop, the path to the Romaniacs started years ago on the sandy tracks of the Netherlands. His father, Rob, an experienced adventure rider himself, first introduced him to the dirt when Joop was just fourteen.

On the day of the interview, I also spoke with Joop’s dad, Rob. He told me Joop was always a bit of a thrill-seeker, obsessed with speed, motorcycles, but also all kinds of daring sports like skiing. Rob quickly realized it was better to guide his son’s wild energy rather than trying to stop it.

To channel that wild energy, they started practicing at De Kuil in IJmuiden, a local off-road hotspot. In those early years, he rode a Suzuki DR250 and later a Honda CR250. However, the Honda proved too expensive to repair at that age, so it barely saw any action. After that setback, Joop stopped riding for a while until he turned eighteen. At eighteen, he got his license and started on a modest Yamaha TW 125. Soon after, he moved up to a Suzuki DRZ400 to join his father on a life-changing trip through the Pyrenees. That rugged mountain range is where his obsession with raw adventure and technical challenges truly began. When Joop wanted to step up his game, he asked his father for advice on the next off-road bike to get. The answer was the Yamaha Ténéré 700 Rally. So Joop saved up every penny for it and set off to master the machine by pushing it through deep sand and rocky tracks.

The way I learn is by crashing the bike a lot, and then picking it up again.

His dedication to training, often two to three times a week, paid off in a massive way. To prepare his body and mind, Joop spent countless hours dragging his bike through deep Dutch sand and riding trials to master absolute balance. He trained until lifting a heavy twin-cylinder bike felt like second nature.

He is known for simply sending the bike and making it happen. When he started riding his Yamaha, he also began filming his adventures on Instagram, always making sure to mix in plenty of fun. “I just like to have a good time,” he adds.

The Kove Adventure
Following his incredible podium finish at the Red Bull Romaniacs, Kove approached him to become a supported rider for their team. It was a unique opportunity that he grabbed with both hands. He is now training hard for the next edition (Saturday, July 25, 2026) of the event, with his sights set firmly on the top spot.

Looking closely at his Kove 800 Rally, you immediately see it is built to survive absolute war. The most important upgrade is the custom set of Haan Wheels, designed with heavy-duty rims and hubs to absorb the violent impacts of jagged mountain rocks. To keep himself in one piece, Joop relies heavily on his partnership with Leatt, wearing their top-tier body armor, boots, helmet, neck brace, knee braces to survive the inevitable crashes that come with pushing boundaries.

Recently (June 2026), we also saw on his social media that he was riding a Kove 450MX with the caption: “You want to see more about my MX journey? Hit the follow button!”… so who knows what other new adventures are yet to come.

Wrapping up
I could have spent hours talking to Joop about our shared passion, but unfortunately, we both had other appointments to get to. Joop, thank you so much for your time, and we at Rusty Stitches want to wish you the absolute best of luck at the upcoming Red Bull Romaniacs starting on the 25th of July!

If you want to know and see more about his adventures, please check out his Instagram: @rally.joop

Author: Arthur Renkema