Will the Netherlands repeat history at the European Track Cycling Championships in Apeldoorn?

Sunday January 7, 2024 at 9:00 AM

Apeldoorn will host the European Track Cycling Championships from January 10-14, 2024. It is not the first time that the Gelderland city has hosted the event, as this was also the case in 2011, 2013 and 2019. Can the Dutch track specialists again bring in as big a win for their own audience as they did five years ago?

The 2024 European Track Cycling Championships will be held in the Omnisport Apeldoorn, opened in 2008 and the largest permanent indoor cycling stadium in the Netherlands. At the beginning of March 2022, it was announced that the European cycling top would settle in the Gelderland municipality this year. Initially the event was planned to take place from February 14 to 18, but the date was ultimately moved forward by a month.

In Apeldoorn they have extensive experience in organizing major cycling events. For example, the track cycling world championships were held in ‘the capital of the Veluwe’ in 2011 and 2018 and the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia was also held here in 2016. At that time, Tom Dumoulin took the first pink leader’s jersey. Three times before, the Omnisport was set up for the European track championships.

Apeldoorn was awarded the event for the first time in 2011. Great Britain was one of the leading nations on the track at the time, finishing top of the medal table. With big names such as Ed Clancy, Pete Kennaugh, Geraint Thomas, Victoria Pendleton and Laura Trott (Laura Kenny from 2016), the British achieved no fewer than seven gold medals. The British thus ended up at the top of the medal rankings.

Belgium also returned home with a gold medal. Six-day specialists Kenny De Ketele and Iljo Keisse took victory in the pair race, ahead of the Swiss Claudio Imhof and Cyrille Thièry and the French Vivien Brisse and Morgan Kneisky. Host country the Netherlands won a medal from the European Championships; Kirsten Wild rode to bronze in the omnium, which then – unlike now – consisted of not four but six parts.

It didn’t take long before the European Championships returned to Apeldoorn. The city was already reassigned the event in 2013. That year, the Dutch selection finished fourth in the medal table with six medals, two of which were gold; Elis Ligtlee won the Keirin, while Kirsten Wild took victory in the points race. This was the first title in a major championship on the track for both Ligtlee and Wild.

In addition, Ligtlee and Wild also won a silver medal in the sprint and the omnium respectively. For the men, Tim Veldt rode to silver in the omnium. With the national team, consisting of Dion Beukeboom, Roy Eefting and Jenning Huizenga, Veldt won bronze in the team pursuit. Belgium won bronze twice: with Kenny de Ketele and Gijs Van Hoecke in the pairs race and with Jolien D’Hoore in the omnium.

The last time the Omnisport was transformed into the setting for the European Championship track was in 2019. In the meantime, the completely blue champion jerseys had made way for a white one with a strip of three shades of blue on the chest, showing the yellow stars of Europe. On the opening day, the home crowd saw the Dutch sprint team – decked out in the rainbow jersey – ride to the title in the team sprint.

It turned out to be a harbinger for many more Dutch medals. On the second day, Kirsten Wild took the title in the elimination race. A day later, Jeffrey Hoogland defeated Harrie Lavreysen in the final of the sprint tournament and Wild won her second gold medal in the omnium. On the fourth day, Lavreysen secured the fifth, final gold medal in the Keirin. Matthijs Büchli rode to bronze in that part.

The Dutch also rode to medals in other areas. Kyra Lamberink, Shanne Braspennincx and Steffie van der Peet took bronze in the team sprint and Wim Stroetinga took bronze in the scratch. Jan-Willem van Schip first won a silver medal in the points race, the part in which he was the reigning world champion, and later silver again in the pairs race together with Yoeri Havik. Theo Bos captured silver in the kilometer and the Wild-Pieters couple bronze in the team race.

Whether the Dutch team can again win such a big prize and finish at the top of the medal table remains to be seen this week. With five gold, four silver and four bronze medals, the bar is high. Compared to five years ago, a prize winner like Kirsten Wild is now enjoying her cycling retirement, just like Theo Bos and Wim Stroetinga. Amy Pieters’ career was abruptly interrupted by a heavy fall in 2021.

Maike van der Duin is another person the Netherlands cannot count on in the Omnisport. The national hope for the endurance events is injured and cannot participate in the European Championships. Shanne Braspennincx is also absent due to an injury. The other sprinters and female sprinters who won medals five years ago are still performing at a high level, just like Jan-Willem Van Schip and Yoeri Havik. They are eligible for a plaque again.

Furthermore, Philip Heijnen (elimination race) and Roy Eefting (scratch) have sufficient skills and experience to compete for medals in their components. After a strong National Championship, Yanne Dorenbos can sometimes surprise in the points race. In the women’s endurance team, eyes are mainly focused on Marit Raaijmakers. We should not yet have high expectations of the young Babette van der Wolf and Lisa van Belle.

The 2024 European Track Cycling Championships will be held from January 10 to 14.