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The Netherlands will host the UCI Road World Championships in 2034, staged across the northern provinces of Groningen and Drenthe. It will be the first time the country has held cycling’s premier road event since 2012, and a long-cherished dream for a region that had to wait two years longer than it hoped to secure it.
How the decision came about
The International Cycling Union (UCI) announced the decision on Wednesday at its congress in Montreal, where this year’s championships are being held. Groningen and Drenthe had originally bid to host the 2032 edition, competing against the Indian city of Pune. In the end, the UCI awarded 2032 to Pune, but, impressed by the strength of the Dutch bid, it resolved the contest by handing the north the 2034 championships instead, a compromise its president, David Lappartient, called a good solution given that both regions had submitted strong proposals. The Netherlands will also host the para-cycling world championships that year.
Securing it meant fast footwork. A high-level delegation, including the mayor of Groningen and provincial commissioners, travelled to Canada to present the final plans, and had to get every municipality in both provinces to recommit at short notice from 2032 to 2034.
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What is planned
The organisers have ambitious ideas for the course. The wish is for the racing, spread over roughly eight days, to pass through every municipality in Groningen and Drenthe, showcasing the whole region. Current plans have the road races running through those municipalities with a finish in Groningen’s Stadspark, while the time trials would start and finish at the TT circuit in Assen, the motorsport venue. The programme is expected to span juniors, under-23s and professionals, for both men and women, across time trials, the mixed relay and the road races, closing with the traditional showpiece, the elite men’s road race.
The scale is considerable. The championships draw an average of around 500,000 spectators on the ground and some 250 million television viewers worldwide. For the organisers, that global audience is much of the point. “The main thing is that it happens, so tens of millions of television viewers can see what the northern provinces have to offer,” said Groningen provincial executive member Marian van Dijken.
The funding question
The total cost is estimated at around 30 million euros, of which 20 million comes from Nij Begun, the programme set up to repair and strengthen the region after decades of gas-extraction earthquakes. That contribution has drawn some debate, with several provincial politicians questioning whether earthquake-recovery money should pay for a sporting event. Nij Begun and the organisers argue it fits: the money comes not from the damage-repair fund itself but from a separate pot meant to make the region more attractive, and they say a global event can boost regional pride, tourism and the northern economy.
For the north, it is a rare turn in the international spotlight. The bid’s ambassador, the Dutch cyclist Bauke Mollema, who learned to ride on exactly these roads, called it “a dream”. The last time the Worlds were held in the Netherlands, in Valkenburg in 2012, Philippe Gilbert and Marianne Vos rode to victory on home soil. In 2034, the north will get its turn.