Jan-Willem van Schip (Azerion-Villa Valkenburg) was disqualified from the final stage of the Ronde de l'Oise on Sunday after officials ruled that a bottle tucked under his jersey constituted non-compliant clothing equipment. When the two-time track world champion refused instructions to leave the race, commissaires called in the French gendarmerie to remove him from the road – however claims that he was forcefully tackled to the ground were revealed to be untrue.
This is the latest disqualification for Van Schip, who has been removed from races five times since 2021 and his third since October, when he was removed from the Tour of Holland. The Dutchman is known for going above and beyond in the search for aerodynamic gains while abiding by the current rules set by the UCI. However, cycling's governing body almost always decides that he has broken those rules.
The 31-year-old had already been fined 200 CHF during the second stage of the race in France for a handlebar position judged to be dangerous to himself and other riders. He went to the commissaire afterwards to ask what he had done wrong, according to team manager Paul Tabak speaking to WielerFlits. Two days later, Van Schip attacked and slipped a water bottle under his jersey. The disqualification followed, along with a further fine for failing to obey officials' instructions.
Images circulated online showing a gendarmerie officer kneeling over Van Schip, who lay beside his bike on the roadside. Rumours spread that he had been pushed off his bike. Van Schip denied this, telling Wielerflits that the officer was looking after him because he was overcome with emotion. Tabak added: "He lay there crying like a child on the side of the road. It is degrading that it has to come to this."
On Instagram, Van Schip said he found it "heartwarming" that when the peloton passed him, riders were shouting "#freeWillem". Victor Campenaerts commented the same phrase on his post.
What rule did he break?
The rule in question for Van Schip's recent DQA was the UCI regulation 1.3.032 which states that clothing and accessories worn by a rider "may not modify the morphology of the rider," and that "any non-essential element or device which is added on (or under) or integrated in any clothing" is forbidden.
Tabak, however, argues that the specific front-pocket ban, which we reported on last week, does not come into force until 1 July 2026. That new rule explicitly targets front jersey pockets filled with nutrition products, which the UCI says create "significant alterations to the riders' body shape" and aerodynamic advantages. Tabak said the current regulations do not expressly ban two bottles or gels under a shirt, and that the team had written to the UCI to challenge the wording. He said he received no reply.
The Ronde de l'Oise follows a series of similar cases. Van Schip has been disqualified five times since 2021, with infractions spanning equipment, clothing, seat post configuration and riding position.
Jan-Willem van Schip's UCI disqualifications since 2021
Five incidents across handlebars, seatpost, clothing and riding position
Date | Race | Issue | Ruling | Team_response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2021 | ||||
| June 2024 | ||||
| October 2025 | ||||
| May 2026 | ||||
| June 2026 |
Azerion-Villa Valkenburg boss used the comparison with how the forearm-position rule was applied at the Tour of Hellas. He said Van Schip was disqualified from that race for resting his forearms on his handlebars, while Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) received only a yellow card for the same position in the Giro d'Italia on the same day. "Those rules must apply to everyone, not just Jan-Willem," he said.
The UCI has previously pushed back on claims that its rules were applied ambiguously. In a statement after Van Schip's 2021 Belgium Tour disqualification, the governing body said the prohibition on using forearms as a point of support had been explained to all UCI Road Teams in March of that year, with visual examples of forbidden positions. It also said the specific handlebars Van Schip used had been presented to its Equipment Commission and were prohibited in UCI-sanctioned events pending further assessment.
Tabak describes the way the UCI treats Van Schip and the whole team as "pure harassment" with various incidents at races across Europe where the commissaires check Van Schip's bike every day at the Ronde de l'Oise and at the Flèche du Sud the UCI officials said that the team's wheels weren't race legal, they were allowed to race with Tabak taking all the paperwork to the UCI officials afterwards and they checked together and were allowed to continue. "We are too small, as a team, to take this further." said Tabak.
Van Schip is working with the rider's union to clear the rules for the future as Tabak says he plans to speak with Van Schip about where they go in the but says he will need to be on a normal bike if he wants to take part at a UCI race otherwise he will last a couple of stages before he'll be out.
Time will tell if the UCI makes the rules more black and white for Van Schip, other riders and just the general public. For instance, the latest rule about stage finishes state that the finale "should" be at least 200 metres long without a corner keeps the rule open to interpretation. This isn't new from cycling's governing body whose use of English is often left very open to interpretation, leading to very inconsistent officiating at races.
Cover image credit: Alex Broadway/SWpix.com
