Jan-Willem van Schip has announced his retirement from racing. The Dutch rider, a former two-time track world champion, called time on his career in a short Instagram post on Sunday.
"Time to look somewhere else," Van Schip wrote. "I'm going to stop cycling. Come and see me at my farewell during [the Rotterdam Six Day]."
The 32-year-old rider had raced for several teams on the road and track during his 13-year career, including A BLOC, Parkhotel Valkenburg, BEAT Cycling Club, and Roompot.
His biggest successes came on the track, with World Championships wins in the Points Race in 2019 and the Madison in 2023. He also won the European Madison title in 2021 and has several UCI World Cup wins and national track titles to his name.
Van Schip took three wins on the road, too, including the 2017 Ronde van Drenthe and a stage of the 2019 Baloise Belgium Tour.
He has been perhaps best known for his bike positioning and aerodynamic innovations, which pushed the boundaries of the UCI rulebook several times over the years.
Van Schip has racked up a host of disqualifications over the years, with his bike set-ups often falling foul of the sport's rules.
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In 2021, 2023, and 2025, Van Schip was disqualified from races for using illegal handlebar setups, while earlier this year he was disqualified from the Tour of Hellas for using an illegal riding position.
His most recent infraction came at the Ronde de L'Oise after he was caught racing with a bidon down the front of his jersey in contravention of UCI regulation 2.12.007 3.2 – 'Use of non-compliant clothing, helmet or any other item or accessory worn by the rider'.
"For us, the situation is becoming a bit untenable," he said.
"We are just a small Continental team, you know. We are absolutely not Visma or whatever. Everywhere Jan-Willem races, it almost always costs us 1,000 Swiss Francs in fines. As a team, that is unsustainable."
Van Schip said earlier this year that "I don't really feel welcome in cycling." Now, he's calling an end to his career, with his last outing on the road coming at the Dutch National Championships in June.
His final race will come at the Rotterdam Six Day track event, which runs from December 1-6.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor before being hired full-time. Her favourite races include the Paris-Roubaix, Tour de France Femmes, Tro-Bro Léon, and cycling's fourth Grand Tour, the Volta a Portugal.
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