Dutch teams are furious as KNWU entirely abandons the under-23 category! "We were not asked whether we could or wanted to do something"

The Dutch cycling federation (KNWU) announced earlier this week that they will entirely abandon the under-23 category, shifting more focus towards juniors and elite category. This means no European and World Championships, no Tour de l'Avenir, nothing. Expectedly, the Dutch continental teams are fuming as they were spit in their faces after long-term efforts to grow promising Dutch cyclists in home environment.

Metec - SOLARWATT p/b Mantel representative Michel Megens has been investing in cycling for years, and in particular in talent development. In an interview for WielerFlits, he was flabbergasted when he heard that U23 national coach Tom Veelers had to leave after just one year. "I thought he was doing a great job. He involved all kinds of riders in his project. Good riders, but also not so well-known names. He made time for that. We at the team thought that was very good of him."

Marc Zonnebelt from Diftar Continental Cyclingteam shares the exasperation. "The training structure for juniors in the Netherlands is already in good order. SEG Racing Academy is now joining various teams, while we also have JEGG-DJR, which is supported by Visma | Lease a Bike. And then I forget CyclingClassNL. So yes, I find this decision difficult," says Zonnebelt.

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According to Megens, the KNWU also forgot to consider an important step before making this decision. "Speaking for myself: a contribution is always negotiable, provided they come up with a good plan. I was only informed by the KNWU that they did not want to ride the World Championship in Rwanda with u23s. Not about anything else that was communicated earlier this week. We were also not asked whether we could or wanted to do something."

He continues that most of the Dutch teams wouldn't even mind to cover the expenses for their riders to compete as an "improvised national team" in some of the races. "Does Metec-Solarwatt want to ride Nation's Cup race A, does Visma | Lease a Bike want to ride Nation's Cup race B and perhaps Diftar or Parkhotel Valkenburg want to do race C? While that might have been obvious. Then we would have ridden that race as a team and paid for it. That seems logical to me."

After all, there's no greater pride to represent your own country: "Wearing that orange shirt, that does something to a top athlete, doesn't it? I would also like to pay for my own under-23 riders to go to the World Championships, if that is the question. With us, a number of riders would jump for joy. But they don't ask that question."

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