Boels Rental Ladies Tour 2013

03-08.09.2013 Official Site
Netherlands, 6-stage Road Race, 611.3km
UCI 2.2

Inaugurated in 1998, this is a race that has been known by several names. Originally, it was the Holland Ladies Tour and remained so for the first 13 years, but a series of new sponsors has seen name changes every year since: in 2011 it was the Profile Ladies Tour, in 2012 the Brainwash Ladies Tour and now in 2013 it's the Boels Rental Ladies Tour.

Along with Lotto and Belisol (whose Belgium Tour took place late last month), Boels is a name that you'll see again and again in women's cycling: in addition to sponsoring a team (Boels-Dolmans), the DIY and plant machinery company has thrown its full weight into supporting the sport - in addition to the team and this race, it also sponsors the Boels Rental Hills Classic and the Ronde van Drenthe. Why? Well, they've obviously found that women's cycling offers sufficient returns to get approval from the bean counters, but it seems likely that some of the people at the top of the firm must be fans. So, if you happen to live near one of Boels' 300 outlets and find yourself needing to rent some DIY equipment or plant machinery, give them a call - and know that some of the money you pay them will go towards supporting and developing the sport you love.

The Ladies Tour has always been a very popular race that attracts the top riders in the world, as well as large numbers of fans. Oh - and make the most of this race. The end of the season is approaching fast.

Previous Winners
Elsbeth van Rooy-Vink, better known as a mountain biker won the first edition, then two more Dutch riders - Leontien van Moorsel and Mirjam Melchers - won in 1999 and 2000. There would be no further Dutch victories until 2009, when Marianne Vos won; she has won it every year since. However, despite having been favourite this year, she has decided to miss the race after receiving treatment for chronic back pain so that she'll have ideal form to defend her World Champion title later in the month.

1998 Elsbeth Vink
1999 Leontien van Moorsel
2000 Mirjam Melchers
2001 Petra Rossner
2002 Debby Mansveld
2003 Susanne Ljungskog
2004 Mirjam Melchers
2005 Tanja Schmidt-Hennes
2006 Susanne Ljungskog
2007 Kristin Armstrong
2008 Charlotte Becker
2009 Marianne Vos
2010 Marianne Vos
2011 Marianne Vos
2012 Marianne Vos

Parcours
Stage 1 (03.09.2013; Roden-Roden, 109.9km)

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At first glance, Stage 1 looks as though it was designed to give the riders a nice and easy start so they could gradually get into the competitive spirit. If you've followed professional cycling for any length of time, you'll know that sort of thing never happens - look more closely at the parcours and, while there are no big climbs (hey, this is the Netherlands), there are several harsh cobbled sections that hurt everyone (and can end your race if you crash, which is all too easy to do on cobbles). Being located along narrow sections of road, these cobbled sections encourage breakaways because riders riding solo or in small groups stay clear of congestion and the majority of crashes (and have more room to avoid any that might take place in the break) whereas those trailing in the main group can topple like dominoes at any moment. So, expect a tough day of very technical racing.

The toughest section of all is the short Kampweg/Kerkpad/Brink stretch in Norg. Though less than 0.4km in length, the first 150m is extremely narrow and extremely rough. The section is ridden three times but, as there are still 22km to be raced after the final visit, it's unlikely to prove decisive; however, it's sufficiently technical, especially in the wet, that a few riders may find their race ends here.

Yes, a major, international bike race will be held on this narrow path!

Stage 2 (04.09.2013; Coevorden-Coevorden, 32.2km Team Time Trial)

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The start of Stage 2 is going to feel distinctly familiar to some of the riders - they set off from the marketplace in Coevorden, just as they did back in March at the Novilon Euregio Cup. Then, they had 141km and an ascent of the VAMberg, a turfed-over rubbish dump with a maximum gradient of 16%, ahead of them; today, they'll only cover 32.2km and there are no hills to speak of (the bridge over the Stieltjeskanaal is the most challenging of the very small climbs along the way), but because it's a team time trial they'll be riding at full speed all the way.

The main issue along the parcours is the narrowness of some of the roads: while it'll be easier to negotiate them as individual teams rather than as a peloton, some stretches offer space sufficiently limited as to lead to difficulties when riders try to swap position at the front, and those who have spent the most time practicing their change-overs will benefit from this. Otherwise, Stage 2 ought to be a classic example of a team time trial, where the best tactic is quite simply to go as fast as possible.

Stage 3 (05.09.2013; Leerdam-Leerdam, 121.3km)

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With its flat terrain (the greatest deviation between two points anywhere along the route is less than 10m) and lack of tight corners, Stage 3 looks easy enough at first glance. However, the nature of the competition will be decided by the wind: if it's a still day, expect a fast race with the peloton sailing through at high speed preventing breaks as slower riders drop off the back; if it's windy, expect the peloton to be broken up into numerous sub-groups with the stronger riders battling the weather and one another at the front and the rest battling for survival at varying distances back along the road.

One feature that might prove to have a major effect on the outcome is the railway crossings and swingbridges - the UCI rules state that, should a break reach such an obstruction and be held up, they will be given a time advantage equal to the advantage they had before stopping; however, if the break gets through and the peloton is held up, the time that the riders in the peloton have to wait will be added to their overall times. This can make the difference between a break succeeding or failing, and has led in the past to unexpected victories.


Stage 4 (06.09.2013; Papendrecht-Papendrecht, 116km)

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Once again, the wind may be a deciding factor today - especially on the long, straight Tolsteeg-Wijngardsesteeg-Wijngardseweg and Abbekesdoel-Oosteinde-Noordzeijde-Dorpstraat-Westeinde sections, where powerful cross- or headwinds would permit a squad of evenly-matched riders to mount a team time trial-style assault on their rivals by working closely together and maintaining the maxium speed possible, thus gaining a big advantage over weaker teams.

It's another very flat stage: the highest point along the parcours, roughly halfway through the neutral zone, is just 4.8m above sea level; the lowest is 5.1, below sea level and comes around 9km later - there are many little dips and ramps all the way to the finish, but none of them are big enough to play a part in determining the stage winner.

Stage 5 (07.09.2013; Zaltbommel-Veen, 120.2km)

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Marianne Vos, as already mentioned, isn't taking part in the Tour this year so that she can give her back a chance to recover fully in time for the World Championships - but there's a good chance she'll put in an appearance at some point today, because the route passes within a kilometre of her home village Meeuwen. Some of the roads featured in the second and third parts of the stage (one 52.2km loop and four 11.4km laps) will be familiar to the riders and fans from May's Omloop vanAalburg - in fact, the 11.4km circuit is identical to the finishing circuit that was completed three times in the Omloop.

As was the case in the Omloop (and the Rabobank 7-Dorpenomloop van Aalburg, which also takes place in the area), wind can be a deciding factor in this race - the terrain is pancake flat, permitting the wind to howl in from the North Sea, and there are few hedges or trees to impede it.

Being so flat and with a long, straight run to the finish, it seems highly likely that the race will finish with a bunch sprint today. How many riders are in that sprint - a few, or all of them - depends on what happens on the long sections on very narrow roads, especially during the 52.2km circuit: the combined length of the four final laps is 45.6km, offering plenty of time for riders who got stuck near the back on the narrow stretches earlier on to get to the front of the peloton, but some of those stretches are so narrow that a small,  strong break could potentially flee the pack at a point where it's impossible for chasers to get up to the front and begin pursuit. If so, the peloton will need to make sure it brings them back before it's too late.

Stage 6 (07.09.2013; Bunde-Berg Terblijt, 111.7km)

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Boels may be the main sponsor of this race, but team-sponsoring partner Dolmans Landscaping are involved too - and Stage 6 starts right outside their premises on Pasweg in Bunde. In this stage, the race changes character completely - the pancake-flat polders where the sprinters had it all their own way are no more now that the Tour enters Limburg, home to the highest hills in the Netherlands which, though not very high, are sometimes sufficiently steep to make things difficult for all but the pure climbers. It doesn't matter what the General Classification looks like at the start line, because it could be very, very different by the finish.

The two most daunting are the chalky hill known as Bemelerberg, usually seen from the Krekelenberg during the Amstel Gold Race, and the infamous Cauberg. Starting just as the race arrives at Bemelen, Bemelerberg climbs 39m in 1.26km; the average gradient is therefore 3%, but the maximum of 6% is enough for the pure sprinters to drop behind. Cauberg is something else entirely: its average gradient is 5.8% and its maximum 12%, sufficient to decide races - including the 2012 World Championships, which took place in this region. It's likely that it'll have some effect on the outcome of this race, too, because the riders will be going up it twice in the final 25km - once at 87.5km and then again at 107.4km. Bemelerberg is climbed early in the race at 6.9km, then again at 100.9km. There are numerous smaller climbs, some with similarly steep sections, along the way.

Start List

Boels Rental Hills Classic 2013

24.05.2013 Official Site
Netherlands, One-day Road Race, 120km
UCI 1.2

DIY and plant machinery rental companies aren't especially well known for their connections to the cycling world - in fact, they're not really well known for anything much and, upon finding themselves in need of the services of one, most people probably exhibit little brand loyalty and go to whichever one is closest or, if they have a choice, cheapest. So the fact that one such company - Boels, which has some 300 outlets in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as a few more in other nations - has decided to invest in women's cycling by sponsoring a team (Boels-Dolmans) and a selection of races (this one - hence the change from its previous name, the Valkenburg Hills Classic or, as it was before that, the Holland Hills Classic; the Holland Ladies' Tour, which was the Brainwash Ladies' Tour last year and will be the Boels Ladies' Tour this year; the Ronde van Drenthe) is a very promising indication that, in those countries at least, the sport is increasing in popularity. There'll be some cycling-obsessed executive who liked the idea in the head office at Sittard (where, incidentally, the race will both start and finish), but what really counts is that the bean-counters decided women's cycling offered a good enough chance of a return and gave the go-ahead.

So thank you, Boels; if I'm ever asked to recommend a plant hire firm by anyone from one of the countries in which you operate, I'll immediately recommend you. There, you see, other companies? Sponsoring women's cycling works. That's why Parkhotel Valkenburg, who are sponsoring the Mountains classification, is still involved too. Give it a try.

The Dutch have won most editions of this one with Mirjam Melchers-van Poppel taking the honours in first edition back in 2004. Anita Valen de Vries became the first Norwegian winner a year later and German Theresa Senff won in 2006. Dutch Marianne Vos of course gets her name onto the list and, having won in 2007 and 2009, she's the only rider to have won twice. Larissa Kleinman, another German, won in 2008 and the Belgian Grace Verbeke won in 2010. In 2011 the race wasn't held, it reappeared in 2012 when Vos was widely expected to take a third victory; however, an official motorbike on the parcours turned out to be too slow to get out of her path and caused a crash. Completing the race in very obvious pain, she was "only" able to manage second place with the same time as the winner, her team mate Annemiek van Vleuten; x-rays later revealed Vos had fractured her collarbone.

Parcours
Neither a map nor altimetry has yet been made available; however, since we know that the race is 120km long, where it starts and finishes and that it will in all likelihood pay a visit to Valkenburg and the Cauberg, it doesn't seem implausible that the riders will face either three laps around a circuit of approximately 40km or four around one of 30km, beginning at Sittard before heading south to Valkenburg, up and over Cauberg and then north back to Sittard again. A good 40km route would be easy to create, going Sittard-Munstergeleen-Puth-Schinnen-Hegge-Nuth-Hulsberg-Emmaberg-Valkenburg/Cauberg-Broekhem-Groot Haasdal-Schimmert-SBeek-Sittard; or vice-versa. Two possible routes are shown below, the official map will be added here as soon as it becomes available.

Start List
No start list has yet been published.

How To Follow The Race
In years gone by, the Holland Hills stood out among Dutch races in being really rather difficult to follow with little information on the official website, virtually no coverage elsewhere even days after the event and nothing at all on Twitter other than an occasional snippet from a fan at the race. Boels have set up a brand spanking new website; since their commercial webpages are clear, concise and very informative, this is hopefully a sign that things will change this year.

Hitec-UCK manager Karl Lima, Boels-Dolmans mechanic Richie Steege (being from Beek, Richie will be good for all sorts of info) and journalists Bart Hazen and Anton Vos are all, as always, the safest bets for accurate Twitter updates.

Weather
More information closer to race day.

New backer for Holland Ladies' Tour

Organisers of the Holland Ladies' Tour - among the most prestigious European women's cycling events now that the Giro Donne is the sole surviving women's Grand Tour - have revealed that they're successfully recruited a new main sponsor.

Chairman Marten de Lange announced at the end of January this year that the race had been temporarily suspended due to financial difficulties. However, around four weeks later he was able to confirm that the race would go ahead after other sponsors agreed to provide more backing, but that it would have to be a more "economical" event. "It would be a shame if this race was to disappear, especially now that it offers such a perfect prelude towards the world championship in Limburg one a week later," he said. "We are still negotiating with a potential sponsor. If that happens, we can make the race as good as previous years - which is what the successful women of Dutch cycling deserve."

The new backer, Brainwash, is a chain of hairdressers that will already be familiar to many fans, having maintained links to women's cycling for some years - it previously sponsored its own Brainwash team before becoming co-sponsor of the Rabobank Women's team. However, company managers had let it be known when the team closed that they remained keen to continue their support and presence in the sport: that they have now extended it is a promising sign that they've found the returns satisfactory. In difficult economic times that have seen numerous races and teams vanish due to financial problems, this goes a long way to encouraging other firms to become involved.

The race, which has been won in the past by such illustrious names as Leontien van Moorsel, Petra Rossner, Kristin Armstrong and new Olympic champion Marianne Vos, is due to take part between the 4th and 9th of September and will now become known as the Brainwash Women's Tour.

Holland Ladies' Tour will go ahead

The 2012 Holland Ladies' Tour will go ahead, it has been confirmed. Race chairman Marten de Lange says that a new sponsor has yet to found after a main financial backer withdrew support, but other sponsors have agreed to contribute extra; allowing organisers to run a more "economical" event.

"It would be a shame if this race was to disappear, especially now that it offers such a perfect prelude towards the world championship in Limburg one a week later," says de Lange. "We are still negotiating with a potential sponsor. If that happens, we can make the race as good as previous years - which is what the successful women of Dutch cycling deserve.''

Holland Ladies' Tour to go ahead?

According to rumours circulating on Twitter, organisers of the Holland Ladies' Tour - who just days ago announced that they had been forced to suspend this year's edition due to lack of sponsorship - may be about to confirm that the event will in fact go ahead.

There were more than a few mutterings in the wake of the original announcement suggesting that the sponsorship difficulties were in fact a publicity stunt, designed to attract new financial backing. That a race as prestigious as this one - among the most important alongside the Giro Donne, Tour of Flanders and a handful of others - has to resort to shady tricks in order to bring sponsors onboard is depressing; but if it worked then it was worthwhile.

Holland Ladies' Tour suspended

Just when we think things are looking up for women's cycling, a new disaster - the organisation behind one of the sport's premier events, the Holland Ladies' Tour, has announced that it has been forced to temporarily suspend preparations for the 2012 edition due to lack of sponsorship.

Chairman of the organisation Marten de Lange says, "We need a miracle for the race to go ahead at this late stage, but we will continue to look for one. However, the towns that would have been hosting stages need to be aware that there are uncertainties."

It is understood that a main sponsor has pulled out and several smaller firms have also withdrawn their support from the race, which was due to start on the 4th of September and would have provided a rehearsal for the 2012 World Championships. Women's cycling has had a tough time of it in recent years with many races being brought to a halt for the same reason, among them some of the sport's greatest events such as the Women's Tour de France. Several teams have also closed after loss of financial backing.

Women's races are unable to generate attendance figure rivaling those of men's races for a number of reasons - a general feeling that they are somehow less exciting (not helped by certain UCI figures), lack of exposure on TV and in the press and other factors - which has the effect of convincing sponsors that they're not getting value for the money they put in. This means the sport has always lived hand-to-mouth on budgets that are miniscule compared to men's racing; but the problem becomes worse each time an event is forced to close, as racing is what generates exposure - thus the problem fuels itself. It's a tragedy when any race comes to an end, but the damage done is far greater in women's cycling - especially when it's a race as prestigious and important as this one.