Irony can be quite funny when it appears in news stories. In this case, the Dutch Headwind Cycling Championships was canceled because of the wind being too strong for competition.
It was announced that the niche cycling event was called off amid orange weather warnings for wind, with gusts of more than 40mph expected in Breezand, Netherlands. This isn’t the first time the race has been canceled because of the wind either. In its eight-year history, back in 2020, Storm Ciara had to abandon the event due to dangerous conditions.
The event’s organizer Robrecht Stoekenbroek originally stated that the event wasn’t “called the National Headwind Cycling Championships for nothing,” only to see it shut down four hours later.
“We have prepared everything, everything is ready. The weather is crazy, but too intense. The peak speeds are too intense,” the organization said. “Safety comes first. When that moment comes, we will be there again,” they said.
Stoekenbroek confirmed that participants will be refunded and given priority entry for the new date in the future, with many still expecting to race. “Whether that’s in two weeks or two months… as far as I’m concerned, we’ll be looking out for wind again from tomorrow,” he said. “We have built everything up, people have made an effort to take time off… to then say, ‘We’re going through a storm, but it won’t happen after all’, that’s difficult.