Pro Cyclist Tackled by Police After Refusing to Leave Race

The Jan-Willem Van Schip story just got stranger.

French newspaper Ouest-France reports that Van Schip did not go quietly after being disqualified from the Ronde de l’Oise on Sunday, and that French police ultimately had to intervene after the Dutchman refused to follow officials’ instructions.

According to the report, a race commissaire can be heard on race radio instructing that Van Schip would be stopped by the gendarmes after refusing to leave the race. Officers patrolling the race soon brought him to the ground.

Azerion-Villa Valkenburg confirmed the police intervention to Dutch cycling outlet Wielerflits.

As previously reported, Van Schip was thrown out of the Ronde de l’Oise on Sunday for riding with a water bottle tucked inside his jersey.

Van Schip received a 300 Swiss franc fine (€326) for failing to comply with officials’ instructions and wearing non-compliant clothing. That came on top of a 200 Swiss franc fine from two days earlier for a non-compliant riding position.

In his initial Instagram post about the disqualification, Van Schip made no mention of the police intervention.

“I found it very strange,” Van Schip said on social media. “For a long time, I didn’t get any clarity on exactly what the problem was. I was only told that I was being taken out of the race. Afterwards, I was told that I was being disqualified because I had a water bottle in my jersey.”

Van Schip maintained he had not broken any rules.

Three and counting

It’s the latest heave-ho for the towering Dutchman who has clearly found a way to annoy the UCI race juries.

Disqualifications are rare in professional cycling. Three in under a year is almost unheard of.

Last month he was booted from the Tour of Hellas because he was was resting his forearms on his handlebars, a big no-no on a standard road bike.

Kicked out at last fall’s Tour of the Netherlands, officials ruled his custom seatpost setup non-compliant.

Go back further and the list grows longer, with disqualifications at the Tour of Belgium in 2021 and Heylen Vastgoed Heistse Pijl in 2024, both for ultra-narrow unconventional handlebars.

A self-admitted tech nerd always hunting for a competitive edge, Van Schip has found himself on a perpetual collision course with cycling’s increasingly detailed rulebook.

Van Schip said the confrontation with the commissaire Sunday escalated quickly.

“The jury rode past immediately and I asked: ‘Is my cycling position okay now?’ The man completely freaked out,” he recounted. “I asked: ‘What is the problem? Can I hide the water bottle with you, or do I have to throw it away here?'”

More than a rule-breaker

The 31-year-old Dutch rider has built a cult following online for his remarkable ability to annoy UCI race juries.

The #freeWillem hashtag is quickly making the rounds on social media.

Lost amid the disqualifications is the fact that Van Schip can race.

The 31-year-old from the third-tier Azerion-Villa Valkenburg squad is a two-time world track champion — the points race in 2019 and the Madison in 2023 — and has won three pro road races.

This spring, between being kicked out of races, he was runner-up at VDL Omloop der Kempen.

Van Schip has questioned why he passes pre-race bike inspections only to be later disqualified, a punishment typically reserved for dangerous riding or serious rule violations.

His run of red cards comes as the UCI appears to be in a rule-enforcement frenzy.

During the Giro d’Italia, officials handed out waves of sanctions for public urination and warned riders against peeing into water bottles.

Last week, the governing body rolled out new limits on bike computers and jersey pockets. The list keeps growing.

Most riders make headlines by winning races.

Van Schip somehow keeps making them by getting kicked out of them.