CYCLING – With two stages in Drenthe, the organization of the Olympia’s Tour cycling round has completed the stage schedule. The oldest stage race in the Netherlands is on the calendar in March.
The second stage starts on Friday 18 March in Westerbork and takes you along and through Schoonoord, Buinen, Exloo, Odoorn, Klijndijk, Valthe, Emmen, Noordbarge, Oosterhesselen and Wijster. The final part is on and around the Col du VAM, with five rounds of fourteen kilometers. Two climbs are included in each course.
Dress rehearsal for NK
The start of this ride is also a dress rehearsal for the Dutch National Championships in June for the organization. Even then the pros will start from this place. The riders will have 173 kilometers for the wheels in March.
Assen gets the start and finish of the final stage of Olympia’s Tour. In the provincial capital, the Dr. Nassaulaan the location of departure and arrival. From there, a stage of 165.3 kilometers awaits the riders. No fewer than 38 villages in North Drenthe are visited, including the Drenthe boulders.
This year Olympia’s Tour starts on Thursday 17 March with a team time trial around Hardenberg, the same day also the start and finish of a stage through the Vechtdal. On the penultimate day, a stage with start and finish in Leek is on the menu.
‘New Startup’
“It is good to start up again with all links within the organization of the round with real city-to-city competitions. Olympia’s Tour can be seen as a new start from an organizational point of view,” says race director Thijs Rondhuis.