“I was driving at the back and was looking back all the time to see where the women were. To our great surprise, we suddenly saw them standing there, on the road in front of Nijeveen.”
Henk Roze is a board member of Grupetto, the cycling club in Meppel. He’s not the only one who wondered where they were. The public on the sidelines and the municipality also had that question on Saturday afternoon.
Nearly a hundred female cyclists from Europe will start their battle for the European championship in Meppel on Saturday. A local round would first be held in Meppel. Fun for the public, after which the official start would take place at Nijeveen. Would. That local round in Meppel was never held. “The tour through the city center was one of the agreements with the organization of the European Cycling Championships, which determined the route,” the municipality responds. “This round has never been run and is therefore not shown. We will discuss this with the organization.” The municipality had released 30,000 euros for the event.
Grupetto was allowed to cycle with a group of about fifty people on Saturday during the European Cycling Championships. “It was disappointing,” says Roze. “It was chaotic right from the start,” he says. Because the organization urges the 50 cyclists of Grupetto to leave as quickly as possible. They are ready for the start to ride ahead of the peloton all the way to Nijeveen. This has been discussed with the organization. That information is just not known to the race commissioners at the start.
The recreationalists leave with great speed. “We drove way too fast. We raced 34, 35 kilometers through the center. Normally we don’t achieve that,” he laughs. A neutralization sounds like it won’t be hard. It’s not that for the pros either, but it still goes at 30 kilometers per hour. And Grupetto’s job is to stay in front of the pros.
“We had to pull out a few minutes before. I drove at the back and kept looking back. I saw a glimpse of them on the Ceintuurbaan. We turned left at the roundabout. So they did not. If, as was intended, we were really ahead If the peloton had been allowed to drive, it would not have gone wrong. Then they could have just followed us.”
Because everything goes wrong on a roundabout. Instead of turning left at the roundabout, the peloton goes straight. The 97 cyclists are soon stopped on the main road to Nijeveen, because otherwise they would drive through normal traffic.
“We also had a problem at the roundabout,” he continues. “We knew what the route was, but the bike in front of us was already going straight ahead.” And that’s not all. “I told my wife that we would drive past the Sluis Bridge. We never passed it. We were soon sent in the wrong direction in Meppel. So our lap in Meppel was also shorter.”
Henk Roze’s wife is not the only one who waited in vain. The streets in Meppel are busy on Saturday. Children with parents, cycling fans, proud Meppel residents and just interested people are waiting for the women to ride their lap. Actief Meppel hands out caps and clappers to the public. They are not necessary. The riders never come by.
They drive straight to Nijeveen. The organization stops the competition just before Nijeveen. Traffic controllers stationed in Meppel have to pass quickly to secure the rest of the route. Because by skipping the lap, the cyclists suddenly find themselves riding among normal traffic.
For Nijeveen it means some extra attention. The helicopter that was supposed to take pictures of Meppel, now takes pictures of Nijeveen. “It is a bit harsh to say that Nijeveen is benefiting from the situation in Meppel,” responds Herwin Lokken, chairman of Ondernemend Nijeveen. “I looked back at the images and our church is beautifully depicted. It is of course beautiful for the village.”
An additional benefit is the neutralization. The start was supposed to be in Nijeveen, but due to the chaos the neutralization has been extended throughout Nijeveen. “As Nijeveen, we are of course proud of the attention we have received and that the images have traveled throughout Europe. It is very nice that the municipality has managed to bring the event here. Unfortunately, it turned out slightly differently than desired Where people work, mistakes are made.”
While the professional riders are waiting, the Grupetto peloton also arrives. So that’s where the cyclists stayed.