“Let the man race!” Pro cyclist and his mad aero bike disqualified from Tour of Holland over “upside down” seatpost – but team say “he’s been racing with it for years”

From the moment Jan-Willem van Schip accelerated along the grass verge and attacked off the front of the bunch on Wednesday’s opening road stage of the Tour of Holland – his arms outrageously narrow, his body tucked in full aero-hunting time trial mode – it was really only a matter of time before the suits at the UCI came calling.

Because, after all, Van Schip has form when it comes to controversial, rule-bending bike set-ups. In 2021, the big Dutch rider was thrown off the Baloise Belgium Tour after cycling’s governing body ruled that his radical Speeco handlebar setup, featuring huge forearm rests designed specifically for his extremely narrow riding style and to circumvent the UCI’s ban on the ‘supertuck’ position, was illegal.

And last June, the 31-year-old’s name was removed from the results sheet of the Heistse Pijl when his Toot Engineering Ashaa RR aero handlebars were later questioned by the UCI, with his Parkhotel Valkenburg team still awaiting a response from the governing body to their protest against the decision.

At this week’s Tour of Holland, those staggeringly narrow bars and the longest stem in cycling were still in place on Van Schip’s Tavelo bike. But this time, it was his bizarre inverted seatpost that prompted the UCI’s beady-eyed officials to rush to their rulebooks in Aigle.

Following the stage, Van Schip was disqualified from the race for his bike setup, his seatpost allegedly violating UCI regulations (though it’s not currently clear what rule it actually violated).

Parkhotel Valkenburg’s sports director Chris de Jonge was also fined 500 Swiss Francs by the governing body in relation to the equipment violation.

Down the outside, off the grass, and onto the attack! 🚀

Jan-Willem van Schip launches a breakaway attempt at the Tour of Holland! pic.twitter.com/a3y8ntn5zc

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) October 15, 2025

According to Van Schip’s team manager Paul Tabak, the decision to pull the 31-year-old from the race came directly from the UCI’s headquarters in Switzerland, and not from the local race jury, who allegedly signed off on the boundary-pushing bike.

Tabak also confirmed to Dutch cycling website Wielerflits that the team would contest the decision, arguing “it’s very simple” and every bit of kit and tech used is already registered with the UCI.

The squad have until 1.15pm on Thursday, before the start of the Tour of Holland’s time trial, to file its appeal against the decision.

OFFICIAL! Jan-Willem van Schip was DSQ from Tour of Holland because of his bicycle that breaks the UCI rules. #TourofHolland

📷: @Julian_Dubbeld pic.twitter.com/7qpxndr9ov

— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) October 15, 2025

“The wheels, your bike, your handlebars, everything. So if Jan-Willem rides with this seatpost – and he’s been racing with it for several years – he has documentation,” Tabak said. “Everything is registered. But it’s a difficult situation. Last year, he was also disqualified from a race the day after the Heistse Pijl, after using the Toot Engineering Ashaa RR Aero handlebars.

“To this day, we’re still protesting about it, because we still haven’t received a response from the UCI. So it just depends on how a UCI commissaire interprets the rules. That’s the case here, I think. But it’s pretty simple: if the tax authorities think you’re in debt, you have to show that you’re not. That’s the case here as well, and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

He continued: “There’s always trouble about Jan-Willem’s handlebars. Every time, we show the approved documentation. Together with Jan-Willem and a jury member, we’ve already written a letter about it to show what it’s all about. Hopefully, that will help overturn the disqualification.”

> “What a horrible-looking bike… love it!”: Cycling world loses its mind over Jan-Willem van Schip’s latest bonkers aero set-up

Of course, in this case it’s not the bars, but his apparently “illegal” seatpost which prompted the UCI to disqualify Van Schip, Tabak explaining how the officials on the ground at the Tour of Holland believed the seatpost was fine until the intervention came from the governing body’s headquarters.

“The race jury told me they didn’t disqualify Jan-Willem because he’s been riding with it like this for several years,” he emphasised. “They were overruled by Switzerland, the UCI made this decision. I got the person in charge and called him. He hasn’t answered yet.

“I’ve also sent him a message asking if he’d like to call me back. I’m willing to have that discussion with him. I can’t find anything in the regulations that mentions a seatpost. The UCI’s argument is that all the Tavelos we ride have straight seatposts. And this one is upside down, which the federation says isn’t allowed.

“Ultimately, I think we won’t win and Jan-Willem is simply out of the race. We’ll see.”

Of course, it’s not just his relentless desire to adopt his by-now signature time trial-esque position during road races which has landed Van Schip in hot water with the authorities over the years.

Last December, he was handed a one-month ban by the UCI for making “indecent and very expressive gestures” at race officials, following an incident that saw the Dutch rider disqualified for a “dangerous” manoeuvre during a chaotic elimination race at the UCI track world championships.

Just as Van Schip was preparing for the three-up sprint, the race jury relegated and removed him from the race for what they perceived to be a “dangerous” close pass on Portugal’s Diogo Narciso two sprints previously, when the Dutchman was seen to have moved Narciso up the track just before the line.

With Van Schip’s late relegation meaning Canada’s Dylan Bibic stayed on to take bronze, the Dutch rider made his feelings on the decision extremely clear, raising his hands in bemusement at the race commissaires as they informed him of his relegation.

Van Schip, a former Madison and points race world champion on the track, then reportedly lost his temper as he exited the track, cursing at the officials and raising two middle fingers in the track centre, in full view of the Danish spectators, who were busy celebrating home rider Hansen’s victory.

The Dutch rider’s outburst, meanwhile, saw his relegation upgraded to an outright disqualification, after falling foul of the UCI’s rules against “assault, intimidation, insults, threats, improper conduct directed at any other person”.

He was also then dropped from the Netherlands’ team for the Madison later that day, where he was looking to defend his world title, and eventually handed a month-long ban by the UCI at the start of this year.

And, according to his trade team manager Tabak, following his latest brush with the law at the Tour of Holland this week, Van Schip is becoming increasingly frustrated with his position in the sport.

“He’s still fighting, but he’s also asking himself why,” Tabak said. “He’s been working hard to get back on track after being dropped from the national track programme.

“He’s rediscovered his motivation and form. But now this happens again. Let the man race – and if it’s not allowed, show us in the rulebook where it says so.”