Sports competitions in the Netherlands can only continue for three weeks without an audience

Friday, November 12, 2021 at 8:41 PM

The tightened corona measures announced by the Dutch cabinet also affect sport. Starting tomorrow evening, the public will not be allowed to attend sports competitions for six hours, both for professionals and amateurs, for three weeks. The 1,5 meter rule again in effect, on behalf of sports.

The first official Dutch gravel racing championship tomorrow is not yet covered by the tightened measures, because the races through and around Epe will be played in the morning and in the afternoon. The measures have consequences for the Dutch team pursuit and team sprint championships (which are on the agenda for November 21), just like for the national cyclocross races.

The organizations of the World Cup field written by Rucphen and Hulst have to wait for the developments in the coming weeks. Camiel van den Bergh, the course designer of the cross in Rucphen (18 December), showed CyclingFlash know that a meeting with the municipality is planned on Wednesday. “I hope we can organize the event. In any case, I will continue to fight for it.”

The Hulst cross is on the agenda two weeks later, on January 2. “There is a plan B, without an audience”, Bram De Brauwer of the organizing committee already announced, if necessary. “And we also have a Plan C in Perkpolder. But for now, everything is going as planned. It will take seven and a half weeks until the cross and the lockdown is only for three weeks. That after that there are still four weeks. And a lot can change in four weeks.”

The tightened measures will in any case be in force until Saturday 4 December.

To slow down the corona infections, new measures will apply from 6 p.m. tomorrow.

This is what it means for the sport ⬇️#coronavirus

— NOC*NSF (@nocnsf) Nov 12, 2021