Amstel Gold Race gets green light and will go ahead with police escort: "Unfortunate for other races"

Good news! The Amstel Gold Race will officially take place in 2025, with police support. The organizers have confirmed that both the men’s and women’s races will have motorcycle police escorts, allowing the event to go ahead as planned.

A while back, it was revealed that the Dutch police would have limited availability in 2025, due to additional training and their deployment for the NATO summit at the end of June in The Hague. As a result, Dutch cycling races were impacted. However, hope was cautiously raised in January when the Royal Dutch Cycling Union indicated that four major Dutch races might still receive police escorts. Besides the Amstel Gold Race, these included Olympia’s Tour, the Dutch stages of the Renewi Tour, and the Simac Ladies Tour.

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Leo van Vliet

Organizers pleased with decision, but acknowledge struggles that other races face

Now, the Amstel Gold Race organization has announced that they have received official confirmation from the police, ensuring their presence at both the men’s and women’s races in April. This means the race can proceed as planned.

"We are very pleased with this decision and would like to thank everyone who contributed positively to this outcome. Over the past period, we have also applied some pressure at a higher level. Of course, it’s extremely unfortunate that many other cycling races won’t have police escorts. We hope those races can still find a way to go ahead, perhaps through alternative arrangements," race director Leo van Vliet told the Dutch paper De Telegraaf.

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What about the other races?

In mid-January, the Royal Dutch Cycling Union issued a press statement with cautiously optimistic news. "Over the past months, we’ve had intensive and constructive discussions with the police. Despite the challenges posed by the NATO summit and the significant scarcity of police resources, we’ve done our utmost to secure as many motorcycle officers as possible for cycling races. While I had hoped for greater availability, I also understand that we can’t perform miracles," the statement read.

Regardless of how further discussions with the police unfold, the Royal Dutch Cycling Union had already made it clear that "these motor escort teams will be essential for race safety in 2025 and beyond."

For now, at least, the Amstel Gold Race has received good news for 2025. The other three races that were in contention for police support have yet to make any announcements. Meanwhile, all other races already know they will have to proceed without police escorts.

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