{"id":263174,"date":"2026-09-17T20:55:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T20:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/eneco-tour-integrates-womens-and-mens-races-alternating-starts-in-prologue\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T20:55:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T20:55:51","slug":"eneco-tour-integrates-womens-and-mens-races-alternating-starts-in-prologue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/eneco-tour-integrates-womens-and-mens-races-alternating-starts-in-prologue\/","title":{"rendered":"Eneco Tour integrates women&#8217;s and men&#8217;s races, alternating starts in prologue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-a896d08c-b2c2-11f1-a73e-c5b5f47d8f9d\">The new Eneco Tour &#8211; born out of the former <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/simac-ladies-tour\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/simac-ladies-tour\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/simac-ladies-tour\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Simac Ladies Tour<\/a> and the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/nibc-tour-of-holland\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/nibc-tour-of-holland\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/nibc-tour-of-holland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NIBC Tour of Holland<\/a> that re-emerged in 2025 &#8211; will roll out a unique format that more closely integrates the professional men and women across the six stages.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The women&#8217;s race is not a side event, but a full-fledged race alongside the men&#8217;s race,&#8221; Race director Roxane Knetemann said. &#8220;Bringing both races together creates a stronger event and a larger national and international stage for women&#8217;s and men&#8217;s cycling.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"ecom-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-a896d08c-b2c2-11f1-a73e-c5b5f47d8f9d-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Men and women will take turns heading down the start ramp of the 3.1km prologue in The Hague and then share the start locations but either stagger start times or use slightly different routes, which consist primarily of local circuits.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-6 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-[10px] lg:my-8\" data-component-name=\"JwPlayer:Carousel\" data-jwp-carousel=\"\" data-jwp-carousel-payload=\"{&quot;ids&quot;:{&quot;playerID&quot;:&quot;jYDCcabO&quot;,&quot;searchPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;divID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;fallbackPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;gwjdoYHD&quot;,&quot;fallbackDivID&quot;:&quot;botr_gwjdoYHD_jYDCcabO_div&quot;,&quot;key&quot;:&quot;X9\\\/mXVGac0NphghLH9hZaqWA5d3dhAM\\\/Ih07grnEyMLjuO2E&quot;,&quot;tintLogo&quot;:true,&quot;useSearchPlaylist&quot;:false,&quot;enabled&quot;:true},&quot;signPostingEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;signPostingLinkEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;waitForAdLoad&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnDesktop&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnMobile&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnTablet&quot;:false}\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-nowrap items-center justify-between gap-3 bg-zinc-900 px-[14px] py-3\" data-jwp-carousel-header=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-sm font-article-heading capitalize leading-5 text-white whitespace-nowrap\"><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-mobile\"\/><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-desktop\">Latest Videos From<\/span><span class=\"jwp-carousel-brand\">Cyclingnews<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">&#8220;This setup makes the course easier to manage, limits traffic disruption, and gives the public the chance to see the race multiple times,&#8221; Thijs Rondhuis of Courage Events said. &#8220;Two races in one day require precise planning. The safety of riders, spectators, and staff remains our top priority.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">After the prologue, stage 1 takes place in Ede with a flat 40-kilometre circuit that the men tackle three times and women twice. The men&#8217;s stage begins after the women&#8217;s finish, with the women&#8217;s winner&#8217;s podium taking place simultaneously with the men&#8217;s team presentation.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-2 pb-0 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,1em)] uppercase sm:text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,0.875em)] font-bold&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            You may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">Stage 2 is a 13.6-kilometre individual time trial in Tilburg, which should open up the general classification in both races. While the schedule shows the same start times for men and women, Knetemann confirmed the two fields would not intermingle.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">A hilly stage in Limburg follows, with a start at the Tom Dumoulin Bike Park in Sittard and a neutral roll-out to a circuit around Watersley taken four times by the women and five by the men. Again, the men&#8217;s race follows the completion of the women&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-8RY6yEJ4jCyLvgk43GepzX\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-8RY6yEJ4jCyLvgk43GepzX slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The queen stage incorporates the toughest hill in the Netherlands, the VAM-berg &#8211; a mound from an old landfill. The women&#8217;s stage is 114.1 kilometres and has a much more direct route from Hoogeveen without cobbles before arriving on the VAM-berg loop. The men race from Hoogeveen and take on a longer route through the countryside, tackling five sections of cobblestones before arriving at the VAM-berg circuit after the women&#8217;s finish for a 149.8km stage.<\/p>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\">The Eneco Tours conclude in Arnhem with a similar setup &#8211; a long circuit for the men followed by four short laps for 149.2 kilometres, while the women compete over nine laps of the short loop for 70.1km.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-1f40954e-b2da-11f1-87a8-efdb6f839948\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"kiosq-b\"><strong>Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! <\/strong><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=WORLDS26\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=WORLDS26\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-article-category=\"pro-cycling\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/subscription-paid\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=WORLDS26\" rel=\"noopener\"><u><strong>Join today.<\/strong><\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/womens-cycling\/eneco-tour-integrates-womens-and-mens-races-alternating-starts-in-prologue\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new Eneco Tour &#8211; born out of the former Simac Ladies Tour and the NIBC Tour of Holland that re-emerged in 2025 &#8211; will roll out a unique format that more closely integrates the professional men and women across the six stages. &#8220;The women&#8217;s race is not a side event, but a full-fledged race [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":263175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-263174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}