Pro cycling’s most notorious aero provocateur has finally given up but even after taking on cycling’s favorite villain he doesn’t come off as a hero.
Cor Vos
Ordinarily, the retirement of a longtime Continental and ProTour-level rider would not attract much attention outside of perhaps his immediate fan club or hometown. Even though said rider has won two World Championships on the track, velodrome racing is – with one exception – niche enough that, other than the Olympics, it rarely attracts attention outside its small fanbase. A mid-level Dutch pro calling time on his career certainly wouldn’t be the basis for a whole story in multiple cycling media outlets, including Escape Collective dot com.
But the rider in question is, arguably, famous for much more than his results on the bike. Jan-Willem van Schip, aero provocateur, bête noire of the UCI rules committee and – not coincidentally – chief fundraiser for the open bar at the UCI holiday party, sworn enemy of Velominati-style feelings-havers on cycling aesthetics, has retired, effective immediately, he announced on Sunday.
The reaction was both larger and more diverse than one might expect for a rider with three career pro road wins, the most recent of which came in 2019. And that reaction stems entirely from the above paragraph and Van Schip’s well-deserved reputation as – depending on your perspective – an innovator or simply a pest.
“Is it true the UCI would have a budget cut next year … because of a significant fall in income from fines?” quipped one commenter on Van Schip’s retirement post on Instagram. “Dutch cycling is going to miss you, JW. Your personality, your innovation, your fighting spirit,” wrote another, earnestly. “Hopefully, the UCI will drop by to congratulate you on your retirement,” snarked a third, and back and forth like that for almost 150 comments.
So no, the UCI won’t have Jan-Willem van Schip to kick around anymore, all 1.94 meters and 85 kg of him. And while many seem relieved he’s gone, I have a slightly different reaction, grounded in a similar story arc three decades ago with a rider whose primary difference to Van Schip seems to be that he was a much more sympathetic character.
Yes, I’m talking about Graeme Obree.
Jan-Willem Van Schip’s philosophical forebear was Graeme Obree, but while the two men were treated similarly by the UCI, fans had different responses.
Yes, I’m aware that Caley Fretz drew a similar parallel last year when Van Schip got himself 86’d from the Tour of Holland over a questionable position.
Van Schip versus the UCI: Who’s the real baddie here?
In one corner: the irresistible force of innovation. In the other: the immovable object of regulatory tradition.
Both riders were pugnacious and combative in their dealings with the UCI and its rules, and Caley covers some of the other similarities between the two riders and their relentless tinkering and polarizing aero innovations, so I don’t need to tread that ground again. What I want to focus on is the difference between the two.
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