Favorites stage 1 Tour of Holland 2025 | Great sprint battle between top riders from the low countries in Dordrecht

The riders will start on Wednesday in Dordrecht, where a long neutralization will follow to Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht. There, the riders will be launched into the 118.5-kilometer stage, during which they will spend almost the entire stage on a local circuit.

The local circuit is 21.5 kilometers long, and the riders have to complete it five times. Via Oud Alblas and the water, the riders will turn left towards the Lek. At that river, they will turn left again, and at Kinderdijk, the riders will have to turn left again, also through the water. This will bring the riders back to Alblasserdam, where the circuit begins and ends.

After riding counterclockwise five times, the riders do not turn left for another lap, but instead turn right towards Dordrecht. The final stretch is straightforward until we reach the last kilometer. There are three turns, after which the last 700 meters are almost straight, with the finish line on the Stadsbrug in Zwijndrecht.

Times
Start: 2:20 PM local time (08:20 AM EDT)
Finish: around 4:48 PM local time (10:48 AM EDT)

The weather in the first stage of the Tour of Holland is fairly mild. It will remain dry in the start and finish location of Dordrecht, and there will be no strong winds. A light breeze will blow from the north, with temperatures reaching around 15 degrees Celsius.

With no strong winds in sight, the first stage of this Tour of Holland looks set to be a real treat for the sprinters. The main attraction will be the duel between Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), on paper, the fastest men in the Dutch stage race.

Looking purely at form, Arnaud De Lie is also one to watch. The Belgian from Lotto has already won six times (!) this fall and is therefore considered a very dangerous outsider on Wednesday, although he often seems to prefer slightly heavier courses. For Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5), his last victory dates back to August, while Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL) has not won since January.

Representing the home country, Dutch road champion Danny van Poppel will also be in action on Sunday. With the last-minute withdrawal of Tim van Dijke, the Dutchman will have one less teammate at the start than his competitors. From a Dutch perspective, it remains to be seen how the XDS Astana duo, Mike Teunissen and Cees Bol, will divide their roles.

Other sprinters to watch out for are Spain's Manuel Peñalver for Polti Visit-Malta, Germany's Tim Torn Teutenberg for Lidl-Trek, Slovakia's Lukas Kubis for Unibet Tietema Rockets, Belgium's Gerben Thijssen for Intermarché-Wanty, and the Alpecin-Deceuninck duo Simon Dehairs and Jensen Plowright.

To a lesser extent, Jason Tesson, Sandy Dujardin (both TotalEnergies), Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana), Tom Crabbe (Flanders-Baloise), Mathieu Kockelmann (Lotto), and Roy Hoogendoorn (Metec-Solarwatt) will also be hoping to make their mark on the Stadsbrug in Zwijndrecht.

Top favorites: Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step).
Outsiders: Arnaud De Lie (Lotto), Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5) and Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Long shots: Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL), Manuel Peñalver (Polti VisitMalta), Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek), Lukas Kubis (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) and Simon Dehairs (Alpecin-Deceuninck)