The organisers of the Healthy Ageing Tour announced that the stage 2 time trial has been delayed due to expected extreme weather in the area of Lauwersoog on Thursday.
The women's field are to compete in a flat 14.4km individual time trial that starts and finishes in Lauwersoog. The race was originally scheduled to start at 11:00 CET but has been delayed by five hours, with the new start scheduled for 16:00 CET.
"The start of stage 2, the time trial, is due [to] storm Evert postponed until 16.00 hrs in the hope the weather conditions will be better then," the race organisation posted on their Twitter feed.
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The organisation also confirmed that they have used the Extreme Weather Protocol in the delay of stage 2, with the priority given to riders' health and safety.
The working group is made up of president of the commmissaires panel, Jakob Knudsen, CPA representative Christine Majerus, AIGCP representative Ina Teutenberg, and the event organiser and safety manager, Thijs Rondhuis.
The group consulted on Thursday, and made the initial decision to delay the start of stage 2 to 15:00 CET, which now has been pushed back another hour to 16:00 CET.
In addition, competing athletes have been asked to bring their road bikes, along with time trial bikes, to the start area, just in case.
"The organization of the Healthy Aging Tour has decided in consultation with safety authorities, competition jury, the TV production team and representatives of participating teams to move the second stage of this round from the morning to the afternoon," the race organisation said in a press release .
"It is a fourteen-kilometer time trial right on the seawall at Lauwersoog. Because the peak of the forecast storm is expected between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., a consulted meteorologist estimates that the time trial should have been run at that time, it has now been decided to postpone the start of the stage until 4 p.m. The finish is now expected around 6 pm. The organization considers the safety of the riders of paramount importance and thus meets the extreme weather protocol of the international cycling association UCI."
