Parkhotel Valkenburg to appeal Van Schip’s disqualification as UCI overrules race jury
Parkhotel Valkenburg has reacted with disbelief after Jan-Willem van Schip was disqualified from the NIBC Tour of Holland. The UCI ruled his seatpost illegal, but the team insists it has long been approved. The decision reportedly came not from the race jury, but directly from UCI headquarters in Switzerland.
“It’s very simple: everything is registered with the UCI – the wheels, the bike, the handlebars, everything,” said team manager Paul Tabak to WielerFlits. “Jan-Willem has been racing with this seatpost for years and has documentation showing it is allowed. Yet suddenly, from Switzerland, they decide it isn’t.”
Tabak said the local commissaires in the Tour of Holland initially saw no issue with Van Schip’s setup. “They didn’t disqualify him. The UCI overruled them,” he explained. “Their argument is that all our Tavelo bikes have straight seatposts, and Jan-Willem’s is reversed. But nowhere in the regulations can I find that this is forbidden.”
The team has until Thursday 13:15, ahead of the individual time trial in Etten-Leur, to file its formal appeal. “We’ll show them the documentation again, like we always do,” Tabak added. “Together with Jan-Willem and a juror, we even wrote an explanation about this before. Hopefully that will help to overturn the decision.”
This is not the first time Van Schip has faced issues over his innovative equipment choices. In 2024, he was removed from the results of the Heistse Pijl after using a Toot Engineering handlebar setup that was later questioned by the UCI. “We’re still waiting for a response to that protest,” said Tabak. “It seems to depend on how each commissaire interprets the rules.”
According to WielerFlits, Van Schip remains determined but frustrated. “He’s still fighting, but he’s also asking himself why,” said Tabak. “He’s been working hard to get back on track after being dropped from the national track program. 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.”
According to the UCI Regulations, the federation retains the right to overturn a decision based on a small clause in the rulebook. “That’s probably why we won’t win this,” said Tabak. “In the end, I think Jan-Willem will simply remain disqualified. We’ll see.”
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