Dark times for Dutch cycling with seven races gone from the 2025 calendar

Cycling races in the Netherlands are a dying breed. It's been written in the sky since NATO summit last summer, but now it's becoming a sad reality.

It's becoming increasingly difficult for local race organisers to secure all the necessities needed to host an event in one of the cycling's traditional countries. And it's not just the matter of projecting a unique course in mostly pan-flat Netherlands. Besides the struggles to secure a sufficient (police-) manpower to organise a large scale event such as a cycling race, many municipalities are taking a refusal stance recently.

These concerns reached even to Amstel Gold Race, the Netherlands' biggest road event. Luckily, the 59th edition may proceed normally (with few restrictions). However some of the smaller races weren't able to adapt to new requirements and so we'll see the Dutch domestic calendar significantly shaved down in 2025.

In addition, there is no host for the 2025 National Championships at the moment and the KNWU (Dutch cycling federation) is still looking for an alternative.

The organizers of Ronde van Limburg and Ster van Zwolle will join forces to keep above water the Olympia's Tour (2.2), which is a key stage race for the Dutch continental scene. The five day stage race is also dealing with restrictions but the option to host two stages on courses of the one-day races will allow them to make the ends meet.

But there's also some more exciting news for Dutch cycling fans as two new Dutch races have been added to the UCI calendar. First on the list is a return of iconic Slag om Norg (1.2) at the end of August with its iconic gravel sectors. Even more exciting are the news of brand new six-day stage race Tour of Holland (2.1). At the end of season, it will fill up the gap left behind by cancelled ZLM Tour.