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Dutch Headwind Cycling Championships
Race details
DateFall or Winter; organized ad hoc when a storm is announced
Region Oosterscheldekering, Netherlands
Local name(s)NK Tegenwindfietsen (in Dutch)
DisciplineRoad cycling
Type time trial
History
First edition2013 (2013)
Editions7
First winnerMen's: Bart Brentjens
Women's: Irene Tesink
Most recentMen's: Jurjun van der Velde
Women's: Lisa Scheenaard

The Dutch Headwind Cycling Championships (in Dutch: NK Tegenwindfietsen, pronounced [ˈteːxə(ɱ)ʋɪntˌfitsə(n)]) are an annual Dutch cycling time trial championships that takes place during storms of wind force 7 (50 km/h) or higher. They are not regulated by the Royal Dutch Cycling Union. [1] [2]

The Championships take place on the Oosterscheldekering storm barrier, which faces the North Sea, and have been held in fall or winter since 2013. Competitors must ride the 8.5 km course against the wind on upright single-speed bicycles, which are provided by the organization. The championships are announced three days before a storm is expected. Since 2014 there is also a team time trial. A total of 200 individual cyclists (300 cyclists in 2020) can participate, plus 25 teams of four cyclists. Participants start 30 seconds apart from each other and the one with the fastest time wins. [3]

In 2020 both the male and female reigning champions (from 2018) successfully defended their titles. In 2023 the event was cancelled because of heavy storm.

Editions

Year Date Wind force Men Time Women Time Team Time
2013 [4] December 15, 2013 5 Netherlands Bart Brentjens 17m 51sec Netherlands Irene Tesink 19m 31sec N/A
2014 [2] December 11, 2014 8 SW Netherlands Wouter Mesker 18m 06sec Netherlands Nathalie Simoens 22m 34sec Wind in de Rug
  Wouter Mesker
  Kaj Hendriks
  Melvin Hekman
  Erik van Lakerveld
16m 30.653sec
2015 October 11, 2015 7 Netherlands Pico de Jager 19m15s Netherlands Mathilde Matthijsse 21m23s [5] Wind in de Rug 18m39s
2016 November 20, 2016 9 (code yellow) Netherlands Teun Sweere 22m30s Netherlands Mathilde Matthijsse 28m09s Jan de Jonge Fietsen 21m34s
2017 Did not take place, due to the absence of stormy conditions
2018 December 8, 2018 7 Netherlands Max de Jong 18m16s Netherlands Lisa Scheenaard 20m28s [6] Team Nooitstop
2019 Did not take place
2020 [7] February 9, 2020 (during Storm Ciara) 8 (code orange) Netherlands Max de Jong 20m00s Netherlands Lisa Scheenaard 23m08s No team winner — contest stopped early due to overly dangerous conditions
2021 Did not take place due to COVID-19
2022 February 6, 2022 7 (code yellow) Netherlands Jurjun van der Velde 20m23s Netherlands Lisa Scheenaard 22m53s Team Nooitstop 15m14s
2023 Cancelled due to too heavy winds during Storm Ciarán

See also

References

  1. ^ "The hardest time trial in the world? Riders suffer at Dutch Headwind Championships (video)". cyclingweekly.co.uk. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Geen sterveling kan record NK Tegenwindfietsen breken" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  3. ^ "NK-Tegenwindfietsen zoekt deelnemers" (in Dutch). Metro. 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Brentjens wint eerste NK tegenwind" (in Dutch). 16 December 2013.
  5. ^ "NK Tegenwindfietsen 2015 - winnaars bekend". Racefietsblog.nl (in Dutch). 2015-12-06. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  6. ^ "Beuken tegen de wind in op NK Tegenwindfietsen" (in Dutch). 8 December 2018.
  7. ^ "NK Tegenwindfietsen: zwaarste editie ooit" [Netherlands Championship Cycling into a Headwind]. Metro (Dutch newspaper) (in Dutch). 9 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-10.