UCI disqualifies Jan-Willem van Schip for the third time in less than a year, 'tackled to ground' by police

Jan-Willem van Schip has been disqualified in the Ronde de l’Oise. The Dutch rider was pulled from the race, for the third time in barely eight months. While the previous two cases involved his equipment, this time in France it was something else entirely.

Earlier in his career, Van Schip was disqualified because of his striking bikes. The track world champion often rides with a distinctive setup, with the seatpost and handlebars standing out. The Dutchman pushes the limits of the regulations in his search for perfect aerodynamics. That does not always go down well.

That was the case again in the Ronde de l’Oise. This time, however, his bike did meet the regulations. Instead, it was something else: in the final stage, won by Dutch talent Keije Solen, Van Schip was removed from the results because he did not comply with the clothing rules. According to La Flamme Rouge, it involved bottles under his shirt.

That is forbidden under the regulations. A bottle in the jersey creates an aerodynamic advantage. The UCI had earlier also announced that it would also crack down on food in the front pockets of jerseys, because it is both unsafe and gives an unfair aerodynamic advantage.

Eventually, the gendarmerie (police) is said to have stepped in to forcibly remove Van Schip from the race.

According to alocal news outlet covering the race, Van Schip refused to get off his bike and leave the race. This led to the local police officers resorting to extreme measures: "Faced with this refusal to comply, the gendarmerie, present along the route, intervened and eventually immobilized and tackled the Dutchman to the ground."

Van Schip was also pulled from the race in the NIBC Tour of Holland because his bike was said not to meet the regulations. It caused quite a stir, and the 31-year-old rider felt he was unfairly the target of a witch hunt. An appeal from his team came to nothing. “Being rejected because you chase your dreams hurts. Being the outcast who does things differently creates a huge amount of unnecessary friction,” he said at the time.

In May this year, he was once again the victim. The track specialist was then removed from the Tour of Hellas. In the Greek stage race, the organisers argued that Van Schip was leaning too much on his forearms. “The bike is completely legal, the seatpost is fine, but they have found something else to screw me over with again. It hurts a lot,” was his reaction afterwards.

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]