The Olympia's Tour is a cycling

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day race, multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages ...

held in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

History

A.S.C. Olympia was founded in Amsterdam on 27 November 1898. It ran one-day races but wanted a race through all the Netherlands. The first Olympia's Tour was in 1909, with three stages and one rest day. The second in 1910 went to

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

and

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. It was 17 years before the third race, partly because races on public roads were forbidden in the Netherlands during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. An international field with 16

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, the champions of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

and around 40 Dutch riders left the

Rembrandtplein Rembrandtplein (English: Rembrandt Square) is a major square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands, named after Rembrandt van Rijn who owned a house nearby from 1639 to 1656. History The square has its origins in the defensive walls constructed in t ...

on 17 August 1927. The Dutch were mainly amateurs, the Germans sponsored riders who rode for bicycle manufacturers such as Opel and Diamant which provided material and a support team. The German Rudolf Wolke won after four stages and 800 kilometres ahead of Janus Braspennincx. It was the last race until 1955. The race resumed on 17 June 1955, with 93 riders leaving Stadionplein in Amsterdam South for a stage of 212 km to

Hoogeveen Hoogeveen (; or '' 't Oveine'') is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Population centres Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout the town. Other v ...

. The race was a battle until the end, when 26-year-old Piet Kooyman won. After 1955 the race was held every year except 2001, when it was stopped by a

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious disease, infectious and sometimes fatal virus (biology), viral disease that primarily affects even-toed ungulates, including domestic and wild Bovidae, bovids. The vir ...

crisis, and the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands The COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus reached the Netherlands on 27 February 2020, when its first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Tilburg. It involved a 56-year-old Dutchman ...

cancelled the 2020 and 2021 editions of the race. Some winners have become successful professionals. They include Henk Nijdam, Frits Schür,

Cees Priem Cees Priem (born 27 October 1950) is a retired Dutch professional road bicycle racer. After his cycling career, Priem became team manager of TVM. He competed in the individual road race and team time trial events at the 1972 Summer Olympics. ...

, Fedor den Hertog, Leo van Vliet, John Talen,

Servais Knaven Henricus Theodorus Josephus (Servais) Knaven (born 6 March 1971) is a Dutch professional road bicycle racer, currently sporting and technical manager for AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step. He was previously a directeur sportif for Team Sky/I ...

, Danny Nelissen, Matthé Pronk, Joost Posthuma and Thomas Dekker.

Past winners

References

{{Reflist Cycle races in the Netherlands 1909 establishments in the Netherlands Recurring sporting events established in 1909 UCI Europe Tour races