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Ronde van Nederland Discussion Thread
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| Heine |
Posted on 08-11-2026 16:44
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Welcome to the very south of the Netherlands! Yes, I know, the Netherlands is supposed to be flat, but someone forgot to tell Limburg. This is the 9th edition of Ronde van Nederland and we have 3 stages over 537 km waiting for 192 riders from 24 teams. The race clashes with the Herald Sun Tour, so while most of the smaller teams head to Australia, almost the whole PT division gets to enjoy the Dutch hills (and probably some rain).
We start with 178,3 km around Nuth (Schimmert). Some small bumps, but nothing that should stop the sprinters from fighting for the first leaders jersey. Stage 2 from Eijsden to Cadier en Keer is the long one with 208 km, and it's up and down all day. Not hard enough to really hurt anyone alone, but after 200 km there will be some tired legs in the final. Stage 3 from Sittard-Geleen back to Cadier en Keer is "only" 151 km, but this is where we find the categorised climbs. With 3 short climbs in the second half this is the stage where the puncheurs must attack if they want to win the GC.
The first edition was raced in 2018 with a win from Arnaud Demare, and since then this race has been a mix of sprinters and puncheurs winning. Kaden Groves is the only one who has won it twice (2023 and 2024), and he's back looking for number 3, this year for Hunter Valley Cycling. Last year Simon Yates won stage 1 and held on to the jersey all the way to the end, 8 seconds ahead of Thomas Pidcock who is also back. The 2021 winner Fernando Gaviria is here as well, now in the colours of Bolt - Eesti.
Previous winners:
Spoiler
| Year | Winner | | 2025 | Simon Yates (cycleYorkshire) | | 2024 | Kaden Groves (Jura GIANTS) | | 2023 | Kaden Groves (Amaysim Australia.com) | | 2022 | Bryan Coquard (ELCO - ABEA) | | 2021 | Fernando Gaviria (Isostar - Specialized) | | 2020 | John Degenkolb (ISA - Hexacta) | | 2019 | Peter Kennaugh (Air France - KLM) | | 2018 | Arnaud Demare (Team Puma - SAP) |
2025 results:
Spoiler
| 1 | Simon Yates | cycleYorkshire | 12h21'35 | | 2 | Thomas Pidcock | Xero Racing | + 8 | | 3 | Arnaud Demare | Tryg - Eni | + 12 | | 4 | Pascal Ackermann | Cedevita | + 23 | | 5 | Mick Van Dijke | Sony - Force India | + 25 | | 6 | Kaden Groves | Jura GIANTS | + 38 | | 7 | Miguel Angel Lopez | Evonik - ELKO | + 40 | | 8 | Aidan Van Niekerk | Minions | + 44 | | 9 | Tomohiro Kinoshita | ELCO - ABEA | + 46 | | 10 | Alex Aranburu | Carlsberg - Danske Bank | s.t. |
S1: Simon Yates (cycleYorkshire) S2: Thomas Pidcock (Xero Racing) S3: Arnaud Demare (Tryg - Eni) Pts: Simon Yates (cycleYorkshire) Mtn: Nans Peters (Gazelle) Yth: Mick Van Dijke (Sony - Force India)
Looking at the history this race is often decided by just a few seconds (8 seconds last year, 3 seconds in 2024), so every little gap counts, also on the sprint stage. That makes it really hard to pick a favourite (that's my excuse anyway).
Lets start with the sprinters for stage 1.  Gaviria is the best sprinter here on paper with 83 in sprint and 84 in acceleration, and as a former winner he knows how to do it.  Dainese is right behind him and will be a real threat. Then we have a big group with 80 in sprint,  Banaszek (who won stage 1 back in 2024),  Zariff,  Liu,  Groves,  Hsu,  Aniolkowski and  Nur Hasan. Of all those I think Groves is the most dangerous for the GC, he has done this twice before and can survive more than most sprinters on the hills. The same goes for  Ackermann who was 4th last year. With 80 acceleration and 77 on hills he could be the dark horse here.
Then to the puncheurs.  Lopez has the best hill stat in the race with 84, and with 80 in fighter he will be up there on both stage 2 and 3. My problem with him is that he struggles to win from a small group with only 66 in sprint, so he must get away alone. Mohoric is in the same situation.  Vansevenant might be the best combo of all of them with 82 on hills and 80 in acceleration, and he was 3rd here in 2024. Other strong puncheurs are Stannard,  A. Bagioli,  Valter, Gesbert,  Aranburu and Romo. And we can't forget Evenepoel with 81 in resistance, he will be dangerous if the race gets hard.
But my favourite might be last year's number 2,  Pidcock. Only 76 on hills, but he got 81 acceleration and 74 in sprint, and won stage 2 last year. If he is in the group at the end, I don't see many who can beat him there.
All in all a very open race where both a sprinter and a puncheur can win. Good luck to everyone!
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| quadsas |
Posted on 08-11-2026 17:31
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Would be very shocked if Nys doesn't win at least two stages and GC
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| SotD |
Posted on 08-11-2026 17:37
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I guess hoping for Boutopoulos to somehow do well is our best chances of anything above 40 points here. Soulious and Koumpetsos are both fairly quick if positioned correctly and Gaudu is here if it somehow ends up being a hard race. But I can't really see that happen.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 08-11-2026 19:29
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Thanks for the preview. We can realistically win every stage here, going to be a very fun race to follow!
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| roturn |
Posted on 08-11-2026 20:15
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Obviously here for a selective event with Vansevenant being active. He did so before in 2024 and if the team works as hard as in MSR I hope that we will see selections at least once.
Rant need to turn around the season here. Too many must opportunities already and even more so for Vansevenant, who had two pretty low scoring events. |
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 08-11-2026 20:17
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Going for a similar team to MSR, with improved hill support for Gesbert. Realistically, this might be a difficult race for us and end up being too tough for Dainese and not tough enough for Gesbert.
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 08-11-2026 20:26
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Thanks for the preview, Heine!
We'll be KoM hunting and maybe snatch a U25 podium with Gregoire, but realistically we'll also be interested observers when it comes to stages wins and the GC fight (once again).
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 08-11-2026 22:10
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We've got a sprinter and a puncheur here. Neither are particularly strong, but hopefully they both try, and we end up with someone in the secondary placings no matter which direction it goes.
Thanks for the preview!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 10-11-2026 22:24
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| ember |
Posted on 08-11-2026 23:18
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Just outside the top 10 last season. Hoping we can land just inside this year with Valter. Not sure how AI threats us and him, though. Here's for hoping we can catch a lucky break! |
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| redordead |
Posted on 09-11-2026 08:46
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I don't have much expectations here. Probably need some KOM and/or U25 pts to score above the minimum.
Thanks to Heine for the preview 
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| SotD |
Posted on 09-11-2026 18:38
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Would have liked to see us atleast try here, especially from the World Champion, but let's see what happens in the more difficult stages. Given how aggressive he was in MSR we have a hope he might try at one point.
Ballerini with a shocker big time! I wonder how far he can make it. He's endurant enough to be quite difficult to shake up way more than those 25 seconds he have.
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| jph27 |
Posted on 09-11-2026 18:48
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The plan was for Gaviria to pick up bonus seconds on S1, then try and hold on for a good GC on the hilly stages. Obviously, that was too much to ask in a field where he was one of only two 81+ sprinters and in theory the best of the 79+ sprinters in an uphill finish...
Suspect this is going to be wasted RDs and very few points from here, guess that's the trade off for our good fortune in MSR. |
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 09-11-2026 20:26
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Great start from Groves and, although a win would have been amazing, he's put himself in a great position for the GC going into the remaining stages. Was also nice to see Sam getting in the breakaway and getting himself in with a shout for the KOM as well as the bonus seconds meaning some additional GC points if he can stick around. Let's see how we go!
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| ember |
Posted on 09-11-2026 20:38
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No time loss, and Macias trying his luck following wheels. Fun!
Fingers crossed Valter can now prove it was a good decision to leave De Lie home here. We need some positioning luck to get valuable bonus seconds, or the race get difficult enough for his hill stat to play a major role  |
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 09-11-2026 21:44
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Third is decent in a difficult uphill finish! Hopefully Dainese can stay with the first group on the next stages and secure a respectable GC result. Now for Gesbert to shine, hopefully!
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 09-11-2026 22:36
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Not ideal but not totally unexpected for Ackerman to not fully fall in line here, congrats to Ryan on a sensational dub for Ballerini.
Thanks for the report
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 10-11-2026 04:06
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Looked like Rodenberg not only got blocked, but managed to merge with like four other guys and create some kind of abomination on the left hand side of the road. 
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| redordead |
Posted on 10-11-2026 09:00
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redordead wrote:
I don't have much expectations here. Probably need some KOM and/or U25 pts to score above the minimum.
Job done
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 10-11-2026 12:25
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Too bad Aniolkowski lost Zijlaard's wheel there. On the plus side, they both got bonus seconds.
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| ryant |
Posted on 10-11-2026 13:46
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We weren't expecting much but hell yeah, let's go Ballerini!!! A big surprise is welcome, especially when we are benefitting greatly, hopefully he can hang on to the main group the remaining days and we should be on for a surprise result here... 
Maybe the MG Admin can be honest now and share Ballerini's 80 SPR secret training this off season! People are suspicious!
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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[PT] Ronde van Nederland 
