Dutch road cycling in peril due to police shortage
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Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar in the Tour of Lombardy on Oct 12, 2024. He won the Amstel Gold classic in 2023.
PHOTO: AFP
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THE HAGUE – Dutch road cycling races in 2025 such as the Amstel Gold classic could be in peril because of a shortage of police, it was revealed on Nov 28.
A large demand on the police, notably for the Nato summit at the end of June, means that the Dutch parliament has suspended policing services and security arrangements for cycling events from January to August.
Dutch cycling chiefs described the situation as “disastrous”.
“We will quickly look into possible solutions to allow the race to go ahead as normal,” said Flanders Classics, the organising company of the Amstel, which has been held annually since 1966 and is scheduled for April 20.
Leo van Vliet, director of the classic race won in 2024 by Britain’s Tom Pidcock and by Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar in 2023, expressed his frustration.
“We’ve been organising this race for almost 60 years. It’s inconceivable that it won’t be held next year,” he said.
Cycling is hugely popular in largely flat Netherlands, with the Dutch team Visma winning all three Grand Tours in 2023.
In other news, cycling chiefs on Nov 26 requested that the World Anti Doping Agency (Wada) “take a position” on the controversial but legal carbon monoxide breathing method used by top riders.
Tour de France champion Pogacar and two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard are among those known to have practised the method believed to effect the level of red blood cells in the bloodstream.
“The UCI clearly asks teams and riders not to use repeated CO inhalation. Only the medical use of a single inhalation of CO in a controlled medical environment could be acceptable,” the International Cycling Union (UCI) said.
“The UCI is also officially requesting Wada to take a position on the use of this method by athletes.”
The use of the potentially lethal gas by at least three teams was revealed last summer during the Tour de France by the specialist cycling website Escape Collective.
The teams included Israel Premier Tech, Pogacar’s UAE Team and Vingegaard’s Visma.
Pogacar was asked about the use of carbon monoxide and seemed unaware of the method before accepting a day later he had done it on one occasion under medical supervision.
“It’s a device to test how your body reacts to altitude,” the three-time Tour winner explained.
“We blow into a balloon for one minute for a test that we have to do two weeks apart. I only did the first part because for the second, the girl who was supposed to do it never came. It’s not like we breathe that every day.”
The method is not yet illegal but, given repeated use, can create an effect similar to altitude training. Wada is likely to make some sort of ruling on its use. AFP, REUTERS
