Preview: NIBC Tour of Holland 2025 – How Well Do the Top Time Trialists Climb?
Julian Dubbeld
The first edition of the NIBC Tour of Holland is on the calendar. Towards the end of the year, the morale among many Dutch cycling talents will still be sky-high, but the question remains: who will win? WielerFlits takes a look ahead at the inaugural edition.
The NIBC Tour of Holland 2025 is the successor to the Tour of the Netherlands, a race that disappeared after 2004. Erik Dekker is therefore still the defending champion. That race has a rich history. The first edition already took place in 1948. The late Gerrie Knetemann holds the record with four overall wins. Hence it is also special that his daughter Roxane Knetemann is the race director starting this year.
This year the race returns. This is mainly thanks to event organizer TIG Sports, which also organizes the Formula 1 at Zandvoort. The return of the Tour of the Netherlands is largely due to the enthusiasm sparked by the start of the Tour de France Femmes in 2024. The ambition is to eventually grow this race into a WorldTour event where the pro teams would like to wrap up the European season.
The first edition of the NIBC Tour of Holland 2025 features no less than six days of racing across the entire country. On Tuesday, October 14, the tour starts in The Hague’s Zuiderpark, followed by a flat stage in Dordrecht and another time trial in Etten-Leur. From day four, 'we' enter the Dutch hills, namely: Limburg, the VAM hill, and the Arnhem area.
On the evening of Tuesday, October 14, the very first NIBC Tour of Holland kicks off with a prologue in The Hague. At 7:00 PM, the first riders will start their 4-kilometer time trial in Zuiderpark, with the last rider crossing the finish line roughly two hours later.
In the iconic Zuiderpark, which was laid out in the 1920s and today is a beloved park among the people of The Hague, riders first head one kilometer northward through the park, then complete a two-kilometer loop heading northwest. Finally, they return on the same road as the first kilometer back to the finish.
It will be a prologue with very small time gaps, so don’t be surprised if five riders finish with the same time. For those wanting to enjoy more of the time trial atmosphere: the Cycling Festival kicks off at 3:00 PM. The team presentation starts at 4:30 PM.
The day after the prologue, the NIBC Tour of Holland stays in South Holland. A stage with start and finish in Dordrecht awaits on the border with North Brabant. Along the way, the peloton rides through the Alblasserwaard.
The first genuine stage of the Tour of Holland is just 115 kilometers long. At around 1:45 PM, the start signal will sound at Statenplan, after which the riders first do a ceremonial neutralized ride through the historic city centers of Dordrecht and Zwijndrecht. The official start gun goes off at 2:20 PM when the riders have crossed the Alblasserdamse Bridge.
In the Alblasserwaard, there is a beautiful loop that the riders have to tackle five times in total. During this loop, the riders spend a long time on the Lek dike along Alblasserdam, Nieuw-Lekkerland, and the heritage site of Kinderdijk: the nineteen windmills listed by UNESCO. The loop continues inland alongside the Alblas river and Oud-Alblas before returning to Alblasserdam, where the loop begins again.
In the finale, the riders cross the Alblasserdamse Bridge again, with the finish line on the Zwijndrecht bridge near Dordrecht.
The NIBC Tour of Holland also features a second time trial for the riders. Starting from Etten-Leur, the riders tackle a 15-kilometer chrono through the Brabant countryside, the same landscape that once inspired Vincent van Gogh’s paintings.
In the first kilometers of the time trial, Etten-Leur is quickly left behind as the riders head south into the polder roads. These are roads known from the Dorpenomloop Rucphen: narrow, winding, and at times beautifully wooded.
Halfway through the time trial, the route passes through the village of Munnikenheide, right next to the Brabant cycling village Sint Willebrord. In the final kilometers, the riders return to Etten-Leur, where the finish is located in the city center with plenty of terraces and historic buildings.
The rider who wins here on Thursday will make a serious bid for the overall victory in this new race.
The queen stage of the Tour of Holland takes place on Friday, as the riders cover 157 kilometers through the Limburg rolling hills. Whether big gaps will open up is still uncertain. The heavier climbs are quite far from the finish.
The start is at the Tom Dumoulin Bike Park. From here, the riders head south toward South Limburg. After just 33 kilometers, the Keutenberg awaits the peloton, followed quickly by the Gulperberg.
Then a ‘Volta NXT loop’ is made, passing through places like Noorbeek, Mheer, and Sint Geertruid, with the Moerslag also on the menu. The riders are already well over seventy kilometers into the stage when they tackle the Bemelerberg, Cauberg, and Geulhemmerberg.
Finally, it’s time to increase the pace toward Sittard-Geleen, where a local 17-kilometer circuit will decide the stage. The key test climbs here are the Beukenberg (900 meters at 3.2%) and the Wanenberg (700 meters at 4.4%). The finish is at Watersley.
The fourth stage in the Tour of Holland is also hilly – yes, that is possible in the Netherlands. Over 157 kilometers, the riders travel from Emmen to the VAM hill, but will mostly be around the VAM area.
A little before half past twelve on Saturday, the start gun goes off from Market Square in Emmen, after which the riders head west to the VAM hill. There are no fewer than eleven ascents of the VAM hill, including two major loops incorporating the Roof of Drenthe. In the last 40 kilometers, five smaller 8-kilometer circuits around the VAM hill await.
After the final climb of the VAM hill, a fast section leads to the finish, including a descent. Riders who have been dropped still have some room to come back and finish with the right group.
The final stage of the Tour of Holland is also quite hilly. In and around Arnhem, the organizers have drawn a 15.5-kilometer circuit that must be ridden ten times.
After an unofficial start on the Arnhem market square, the peloton enters the circuit riding the first 2.2 kilometers neutralized. On the circuit, starting on Zijpendaalseweg, the riders first head northeast to Schaarsbergen, then return to Arnhem and the finish straight via Alteveer and the Apeldoornseweg.
The hardest part of the race is on the Zijpendaalseweg (1.4 kilometers at 3.5%). Also, halfway through, there is a gravel section longer than one and a half kilometers. The route leads past the Sonsbeek Park and the Open Air Museum, so expect some beautiful images along the way.
We will have to wait this week to see how the dynamics of this race unfold. On paper, the difficult stages in the final weekend don’t look too hard, but appearances can be deceiving in the Netherlands. Normally, these three stages will be too tough for the better sprinters to contend for the overall win. With an evening prologue and a medium-length individual time trial (15 kilometers), strong time trialists seem to have the upper hand.
At his comeback after a jaw fracture, Eekhoff immediately won Nokere Koerse – photo: photo agency Cor Vos[/caption]
Someone with the right skill set for this tour is Nils Eekhoff. The rider from Picnic PostNL can handle tough stages, has a strong sprint finish (he won Nokere Koerse in spring, for example), and also has a good time trial. A few years ago, he was runner-up at the Dutch Championships on the VAM hill behind Mathieu van der Poel, to give an example. Judging by his second place at Binche-Chimay-Binche last Tuesday, his form is good as well.
In Belgium, they also have a rider who can perfectly handle this tour and could win it. We’re talking about Alec Segaert. As a multiple European time trial champion at the U23 level, the young Lotto rider needs little introduction. As a U23, he also won the U23 edition of the Tour of Lombardy. Earlier this year, he was already in good form in similar tours like the Baloise Belgium Tour (eleventh) and the Tour of Denmark (fifth).
Hoole celebrates his Giro stage win – photo: photo agency Cor Vos[/caption]
For Daan Hoole, there is a great opportunity next week to race for himself. The Dutch time trial champion usually has to sacrifice himself for his leader in other classics and stage races. Now he doesn’t have to. With his very strong time trial ability (one stage win in the recent Giro d'Italia and sixth place at last European Championships), he can compete here for the overall title. Despite his tall stature, Hoole should be able to handle the hills in the final weekend just fine.
Unibet Tietema Rockets bring their season revelation Lukáš Kubiš to the start here. The 25-year-old Slovak champion has scored many UCI points all year long in a wide range of races. He has a good short time trial, a strong sprint, and copes relatively easily with tougher courses. Thanks to his versatility, he can quickly emerge in a race like this. By the end of the week, Kubiš might not be outside the top 10.
Like many teams, Visma | Lease a Bike has some difficulty assembling lineups for the last races of the year. For the NIBC Tour of Holland, however, that is not the case, as they bring Bart Lemmen to the start. With his abilities and current form – last month the former professional soldier finished second in the Tour of Slovakia – he can strike in the time trials and hilly stages.
At Lidl-Trek, besides Hoole, they have several cards to play for the overall victory. One of them is the 22-year-old Jakob Söderqvist. The Swede became world champion time trialist last month in the U23 category. There, Söderqvist showed that a tougher course does not bother him. Perhaps he can make a strong move in the two time trials, which he can then use to his advantage in the hilly stages.
Anthony Turgis during the Gravel stage in the Tour de France – photo: Cor Vos[/caption]
We therefore expect time trialling to be very important in this NIBC Tour of Holland 2025. However, with the classics specialists in the final weekend, we also consider a scenario where those types of riders come to the fore more quickly. We mainly think of Anthony Turgis and Yves Lampaert. The Frenchman won last year’s gravel stage in the Tour and, like the Belgian, has been in good form in recent weeks. They could also deliver a high performance here.
This also applies to the sprinters in the scenario where the races in the final weekend aren’t too hard. The two sprinters best equipped to handle that work are Arnaud De Lie and Olav Kooij. The Belgian seems to have fully regained his old form after the Tour. Since his overall win in the Renewi Tour, his victories have come quickly. The Dutchman is also still somewhat fresh and already won four races in September alone.
There is only a small group of outsiders for this NIBC Tour of Holland 2025. We first and foremost think of Christophe Laporte. He seems to be riding better and better after a virus sidelined him for months. Riders like Huub Artz, Tim van Dijke, Milan Lanhove, and Tim Torn Teutenberg also have the capacity to perform very well here. Our dark horse, however, is Pepijn Reinderink, who is quietly having a good season. Two years ago, he still became Dutch U23 champion in Watersley.
There is a top field at the start among the sprinters. Besides Kooij and De Lie, we also see Tim Merlier and Jordi Meeus here. All four are in the top 10 of the Sprint Ranking at CyclingFlash. They will certainly get at least one chance to show their qualities in Dordrecht. But in a calmer race, it’s also not unthinkable that one of the final stages ends in a bunch sprint. Other fast men include Matteo Moschetti, Tobias Lund Andresen, Tim Torn Teutenberg, Simon Dehairs, Luke Lamperti, Gerben Thijssen, and the comeback rider from a clavicle fracture, Fabio Jakobsen.
Meeus scored again last week in Binche-Chimay-Binche – photo: photo agency Cor Vos[/caption]
When you think of the Netherlands in October, you think of raw autumn weather conditions. Strong winds, lots of rain. Ingredients for a spectacular show. But the riders will largely have to make that happen themselves next week. The Netherlands can expect a very mild week for this time of year. Temperatures will rise to about fourteen to seventeen degrees Celsius in the afternoon, there will be barely any wind (force two mostly from the north), and very occasional drizzle. That will do the riders good.
The NIBC Tour of Holland 2025 will be shown next week on three different platforms. You can watch the regular TV broadcast on Eurosport. That is also available online via HBO Max, as well as on NOS. View all TV channels and broadcast times in our cycling TV guide.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2025 |  Christophe Laporte |
| 2004 |  Erik Dekker |
| 2003 |  Viatcheslav Ekimov |
| 2002 |  Kim Kirchen |
| 2001 | Leon van Bon |
| 2000 | Erik Dekker |
| 1999 |  Serhiy Honchar |
| 1998 |  Rolf Sørensen |
| 1997 | Erik Dekker |
| 1996 | Rolf Sørensen |
| Date | Stage | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-10 | 0 | Den Haag | Den Haag |
| 15-10 | 1 | Dordrecht | Dordrecht |
| 16-10 | 2 | Etten-Leur | Etten-Leur |
| 17-10 | 3 | Sittard-Geleen | Watersley |
| 18-10 | 4 | Emmen | Col du Vam (Wijster) |
| 19-10 | 5 | Arnhem | Arnhem |
Dordrecht) Dordrecht) Etten-Leur) Etten-Leur
Sittard-Geleen) Watersley)
Emmen) Col du Vam (Wijster))
Arnhem) Arnhem)
Lukas Kubis – photo: Cor Vos
NIBC Tour of Holland
NIBC Tour of HollandNIBC Tour of HollandNIBC Tour of HollandNIBC Tour of Holland
NIBC Tour of Holland
