Tour of Holland back on the calendar: a conversation with commercial director Sander Kruis
The Tour of Holland, the successor to the Tour of the Netherlands, has a chance to return in 2025. Commercial director Sander Kruis shares the ambition behind this revival and gives insight into the plans: a challenging race for both men and women in the final weeks of the cycling season.
The Tour of Holland, the former Tour of the Netherlands, might return in 2025. First of all, how certain is this?
It’s not completely certain yet, but organizer TIG Sports is working hard on it, and we can only applaud that. We hope the Tour of Holland will take place in October 2025. There are promising talks with municipalities and some great companies, but the necessary signatures still need to be put in place.
How is the team involved in this?
Richard Plugge and I have long cherished the desire to revive the former Tour of the Netherlands. In a cycling country like the Netherlands, we should be able to organize a beautiful Tour. This is not only great for cycling fans but also an inspiration for the youth, whom we want to encourage to take up cycling as much as possible. However, we are a cycling team and do not organize races ourselves. When TIG Sports came forward to take this on, we were immediately enthusiastic. They have a lot of experience with major sporting events, such as Formula 1 in Zandvoort. We can see that reflected in the beautiful concept now on the table.
"Our shared ambition is to create a challenging and innovative race"
What will the Tour of Holland look like?
Our shared ambition is to create a challenging and innovative race, where both men and women ultimately race in the same week, on safe routes. These routes are not only challenging but also offer greater safety for the riders. Moreover, this will reduce the burden on the police for race support and is attractive for the public and sponsors as riders will pass by more frequently.
Aren't you worried that the weather in October might be too bad?
In the Netherlands, you can never be sure about the weather. We also ride beautiful races here in February or March, and the conditions can be unpredictable then as well. However, in recent years we have seen that October often has many beautiful days. We believe October is a perfect period to conclude the road season.
What can you say about the route?
TIG is still in discussion with various municipalities and provinces, so we will have to wait a little longer for that. However, the idea is to have five stages and a prologue—a great week of cycling at the end of the season.
