Amstel Gold Race and Dutch events at risk for 2025 - Year without police escort due to a 2-day NATO summit

Bad news for cycling in the Netherlands. From January 1, 2025 to August 31, 2025, the NATO summit will be held in The Hague, which means no police escort will be available for Dutch cycling races.

Joost van Wijngaarden, Sports Manager at the KNWU, commented on this problematic issue in conversation with Wielerflits. "Some time ago the KNWU was already informed. That was in September. Then the story was still that this situation would occur from mid-April. And very recently we were informed that this period already applies from the beginning of the cycling season. And that also the biggest races are going to suffer from this," he begins.

This means that several races will now have to look for another solution. "In principle, this news does not mean for any race that it cannot take place. As far as we are concerned, any race may and can take place. But we will have to find an alternative together for each race. That could be two: either we try as the Betcity Elfstedenrace did last October, that motorcycle escort teams take over the role of the police. That's one. But we also know that this is a very costly and labor-intensive method."

"The second option is to shorten courses so that a motorcycle support team can handle it well. That way, a lot of races already take place in the Netherlands," Van Wijngaarden continued. "The difference now is that the biggest races in the Netherlands also have to start applying this. Even the Amstel Gold Race. They will have to look at alternatives."

So does this mean that major races, such as the Amstel Gold Race, may be scrapped? "That choice always lies with the organizer. We as KNWU never put a line through a race ourselves. The organizer will have to check all his options. In the example of the Amstel - I think - the worst scenario is that they might have to go back to such a corona edition on the World Championships course, with the Bemelerberg and the Cauberg."

Van Wijngaarden, however, notes that many of the smaller races in Netherlands will be negatively affected as well: "The issue for them now is to transform into a race on a circuit. The idea is that police deployment will continue to decline in the coming years - that is, beyond 2025 - and that this is a permanent scenario."

Even races such as the ZLM Tour, the Renewi Tour and the Dutch Cycling Championship will feel the effects of this, according to Van Wijngaarden. "The ZLM Tour and the NC are in the period when the NATO summit is actually taking place. Those organizations have known for a long time that they need to get by with a motorcycle escort team. For the ZLM Tour, this indeed means that you get five stages with local laps. And the NC will consist of one or more local laps, just like last year in Arnhem. We will have to find that route for the NC 2025 as well."

Van Wijngaarden, on behalf of the KNWU, concludes with a message to all race organizations regarding this issue: "For all races that used to have police escorts on our calendar, this should be a very clear signal: this is the moment to switch your race course to a circuit variant. Because otherwise the race won't happen next year. The reaction later will be that it is a terrible shame and that the KNWU should have done more to lobby for more police deployment. It is good to mention that we have done that to the maximum in recent months."

"We have been in discussions with three ministries and with the highest civil servants. But for 2025, this is what the reality is. We have to face those and we will have to transform next year. In the background, we will continue to lobby fully for maximum commitment, but we need clarity now. And it may well be that if you don't want to change to a turnaround for next year, your course won't return to the calendar in 2026 either."