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Dutch National Headwind Championships abandoned … due to the wind (+ video)

Full force of Storm Ciara made it too dangerous to complete sixth edition of event

Among those watching this week’s weather forecast most keenly were the organisers of the Dutch National Headwind Championships – now in its sixth year, the event is a moveable feast and takes place when wind conditions are just right, with the date announced a couple of days in advance.

But even the hardy cyclists who took to the course on sit-up-and-beg bikes supplied by Gazelle were eventually forced to give way to Storm Ciara with the event abandoned while it was in progress because conditions were too dangerous to ride in.

This year’s edition of the event, which is sponsored by the energy provider Eneco and is held on the Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier built as part of the Delta Works project to protect the country from flooding from the North Sea, sold out pretty much the moment it was announced on Thursday.

The first cyclists heading out on the course at 10am this morning, with the start time brought forward to noon due to the storm being forecast to worsen as the day went on, with gusts of up to 100 kilometres an hour predicted.

Some 250 riders managed to complete the course before the event was called off, and organisers said on Twitter that it was a “bitter pill to swallow” for the 15 teams who still had to start when the decision was taken to call off what they said was the “toughest edition ever” of the event.

We haven’t seen any results yet, but they will be posted on the event’s Facebook page in due course.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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3 comments

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Sredlums | 4 years ago
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This article is not really accurate.

The event started of with individual riders, starting in time trial fashion, and that part of the event was completed without problems. The organisation and the participants loved the strong winds, making it the toughest event of the series so far.

After that there was also a team time trial race, and that race was cancelled shortly after it started. However, it was NOT because the wind was too strong for the cyclists, it was because the truck that brought the (organisation provided) bikes from the finish back to the start for the next groups wasn't allowed to cross the bridge anymore.

So yes, the event was eventually (but AFTER everybody had raced the individual race) cancelled because the wind was too strong… for the TRUCK, not for the cyclists 💪 

 

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Gozzy | 4 years ago
1 like

Gusts of 10km/h predicted? Now that's some harsh conditions!

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Sriracha | 4 years ago
2 likes

Must have come as a blow.

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