Richard Plugge reacts to recent state of cycling in the Netherlands: "It is unprecedented that sports that can bring about so much beauty are being thwarted in the Netherlands"

Richard Plugge sees that the Netherlands is under pressure as a cycling country. This is what the director of Visma | Lease a Bike writes in his regular column in RIDE Magazine. Plugge asks questions about recent developments in the Netherlands, where there is increasing resistance to cycling and sports on public roads.

Plugge also moves into politics. What would he do if he became Minister of Sports? "Of course, make much more money available for sports and exercise for youth through the ministry. Supporting and promoting sporting events. Money for specialist teachers at schools that teach PE at least three times a week. Ensuring that children can walk or cycle to school. Safe, without the chance of being hit by hasty parents in cars delivering their offspring to school," said the foreman.

According to Plugge, the bike is not the problem, but the solution. "The bike as a means of transport and as a sporting instrument for youth. Team Visma | Lease a Bike tries to encourage children and the elderly to exercise on bike with the 350 fat tire races and Ready 2 Race competitions. The competitions open the eyes of many," he says.

Plugge views the many discussions surrounding the National Cycling Championships on the Posbank, the Amstel Gold Race in Vaals and the resistance to the 'circus' of the Tour de France Femmes in Kijkduin and Haag with dismay. "It is unprecedented that sports that can bring about so much beauty are being thwarted in the Netherlands," says Plugge.