UCI's worst enemy? Jan-Willem Van Schip disqualified from another race due to extreme aerodynamical stance

Jan-Willem van Schip is one of the riders who are under the spotlight of the UCI the most. The sport's governing body has a set of rules for bike positions, and the Dutch rider - a specialist on the track, where these are looser - continuously pushes them to the very limit. He has been disqualified from yet another race, this time around the 2026 Tour of Hellas.

Van Schip was controversially expelled from last year's Tour of Holland for the exact same reason, although that was just one episode in the years-long saga that is his set of disputes with the UCI. His extreme handlebar positions were typically the issue; whilst in Holland it was his seatpost.

This could've been from another dispute with the Dutch cycling federation. After being expelled from that event, van Schip's DS at the time Paul Tabak said that "they're kind of looking for him. I already said it jokingly: if he'd shaved his mustache wrong, they would have disqualified him too".

Hence, after so many disqualifications, one would assume that every adjustment would've been made in order to prevent this topic from dragging. But it is not the case, as after stage 1, van Schip has now also been disqualified from the Tour of Hellas," Greece's top race.

On the opening day, the Dutchman was on the attack once again, putting his aerodynamic skills to use. His attack did not succeed but Azérion / Villa Valkenburg managed to take the stage win on the final sprint with his teammate Mathis Avondts. After the stage, the bad news came once again. This time around, for the use of unauthorized equipment, however it is not confirmed where the rules were broken.

Van Schip's teammate Bram Danklof has said to Wielerflits that the Dutchman has not violated any rule and that this is a situation of pure harassment.