No Netherlands start in the Vuelta a Espana 2015

The Vuelta's golden jersey rides in The Netherlands for the first time.

The Vuelta's golden jersey rides in The Netherlands for the first time. (Image credit: Lavuelta.com)

The Netherlands will not host the start of the Vuelta a Espana in 2015. Race organizers have told the Dutch organizing committee of their decision without any explanation. Earlier, Vuelta organizer Javier Guillen had said that the Netherlands had a 99.9% chance of holding the start.

The Vuelta last started in the Netherlands in 2009, with the start in Drenthe. The province in the northeastern part of the country had hoped to host the race again, but subsequently withdrew its participation, citing the sport's doping problems.

The organizing committee La Vuelta 2015 Holanda said that it was “disappointed” to receive the written notification, and is still awaiting the reasoning for it.

Fred Lubbers, head of the committee, blamed it on the fact that the Vuelta has been acquired by Tour de France organizer ASO. “They decided not to start in the Netherlands, we expect a statement this week,” he told ad.nl.

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1