"A large pickup truck with a trailer drove straight towards the peloton" – Cees Bol details scary scenes that forced Tour of Holland stage 3 to be cancelled

Fresh details have emerged about the frightening scenes that led to the cancellation of stage 3 at the 2025 Tour of Holland, with XDS Astana Team's Cees Bol describing a series of near-misses that left riders with no choice but to stop racing.

The Dutch sprinter, speaking to WielerFlits, explained that the peloton unanimously agreed to halt the stage after multiple incidents on the open road — the most alarming of which came when a vehicle entered the route head-on during a high-speed descent.

“There were a few moments that could have ended very badly, and that’s where we drew the line,” said Bol. “The most crucial moment came during a fast descent on a narrow road, when a large pickup truck with a trailer drove straight towards the peloton. At the front of the bunch, it was only just avoided. It could easily have gone very differently.”

According to Bol, this was not an isolated incident. Earlier in the day, riders had already encountered vehicles on the race route, prompting growing frustration and concern among the peloton. “It wasn’t even the first car that had appeared on the course,” he continued. “The other incidents were a bit less dramatic, but those things shouldn’t be happening either. Everyone’s disappointed — of course we’d have liked to race — but it has to be safe. When it becomes life-threatening, that’s a step too far.”

While tensions were understandably high in the aftermath, Bol praised the race organisers for acting decisively once the riders had made their stance clear.

“I’m really glad the Tour of Holland could be organised at all, and I hope it can continue in the future. It’s a great initiative,” he said. “I respect that the organisers had the courage to make the call and stand up for the riders. It’s a shame it had to end like this — it would’ve been nicer if everything had gone smoothly.”

The comments come after race director Thijs Rondhuis admitted that 25 traffic marshals failed to show up for duty, leaving parts of the neutralised section unsecured and forcing organisers to cancel the stage on safety grounds. Rondhuis also stressed that the incident highlighted a broader problem for Dutch racing: the increasing difficulty of running events without full police support.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the Tour, Bol believes the weekend stages in Drenthe and Arnhem will not face the same safety risks.

“In Drenthe it’ll be completely different — it’s less densely populated there and the roads are different too, so I’m less worried about the weekend,” he explained. “Around the VAM-berg and in Arnhem the course will be fully closed. It might be harder for some of the foreign riders to understand those differences, but I’ll do my best to convince them.”

Saturday’s stage 4 around the VAM-berg and Sunday’s final stage in Arnhem are both set to take place on fully secured routes, with the peloton and organisers determined to move past a day that will long be remembered as one of the most alarming safety incidents in Dutch racing in recent years.