Jan-Willem van Schip quits cycling after much controversy: 'It's impossible to reason with the UCI'

Van Schip has been in the news a lot in recent years. Over the past two years, he was disqualified no fewer than three times on the road, each time due to his unique bike and riding position.

Eventually, he’d had enough: he decided to call it quits. But there were other factors at play as well. For one thing, he had lost his love for the sport.

"For a very long time, that love was so great that when you’re focused and find the solution, it gives you a huge rush," Van Schip says.

Another thing that was difficult for him was that he was never really understood.

“My development as a person and as a cyclist went hand in hand for a long time. But at some point, you reach a certain stage, and then you need to be challenged again. That’s actually pretty tough. You kind of outgrow it: I can spend the whole day thinking about when to break away in a madison, but if you don’t have anyone who wants to help you figure that out, it’s tough.”

His eccentric personality didn't help him in his career. “There are so many times when you’re given the benefit of the doubt.” I rode for Roompot for two years. I was the world track champion and won a stage in the Baloise Belgium Tour, but I couldn’t land a spot on a Pro Continental team. But honestly, it never really bothered me that much, because I always felt like I was in control of my own destiny.”

Van Schip was always focused on all the details of cycling, but actually received very little support in that regard.

“In cycling—and in sports in general—you tend to reduce everything to results. That creates a kind of hierarchy: whoever wins is right. And I think that’s really destructive. Suggestions lead to safety, and safety leads to suggestions. You actually need input from everyone.”

The stories about Van Schip and his ingenious approach to optimising aerodynamics as much as possible have become legendary in the aero community.But the Dutchman delved into every detail—including nutrition.

Ultimately, it paid off big time for him—including three professional victories. But it was on the track, in particular, that it led to success, with two world titles. Still, that aforementioned hierarchy didn’t matter to him.

"That's what I still find so incredibly vague," said van Schip. "On Thijs Zonneveld's podcast, I was laughed at for saying that people should eat 100 grams of carbs. Now that's common knowledge. And now they’re hiring people for 100,000 to figure out which suit is best, while I was already working on speed suits back in 2018 and 2019.”

Now, between December 2 and 6, Van Schip will ride his very last race at the Six-Day Race in Rotterdam. It will be a magnificent finale to a rich career, with many ups, but also many downs. The last few years, in particular, have been very difficult for the Schalkwijk native. Those disqualifications—including ones in the Tour of Holland, the Tour of Hellas, and the Ronde de l’Oise—certainly took their toll.

"I'm actually glad about that—that I don't have to deal with that anymore. Especially this year's disqualifications: they were just targeting me." He cites the Dutch National Championships as an example. “I see Wilco Kelderman riding at the Dutch Championships with his wrists on the handlebars. Then I’m out there riding, with pain in my shoulders and my fingers under the shifters, and that’s not allowed.”

Zonneveld had previously called it “class-based justice,” and Van Schip also noted that it was becoming too much for him. “What can we learn from this? The answer is: you can’t reason with the UCI. I really did my best. My friends said, ‘Willem, it’s impossible; it’ll probably go wrong again.’ But I thought, ‘What am I supposed to do then? What am I allowed to do, and what am I not?’ And there was no answer to that.”