Organizers of the near-mythical Eleven Cities Tour dealt 16,000 skaters and the nation at large a crushing blow Wednesday when they decided the ice was too thin to hold the 125-mile (200-kilometer) skating marathon for the first time in 15 years.
"We can't let the tour go ahead at the moment," Frisian Eleven Cities Association chairman Wiebe Wieling told a nationally televised news conference. "We're not proud of this decision. This is the decision we had to make."
For more: Ice not thick enough for Dutch skating marathon - Houston Chronicle
Showing posts with label Elfstedentocht. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elfstedentocht. Show all posts
2/9/12
The Netherlands: Dutch gripped by ice fever as military helps prepare route for historic skating race
Dutch army is deployed on the alternative route of the Eleven Cities Tour (Elfstedentocht) to prepare the alternative route over the Hegemer lake in Woudsend on Wednesday. The Eleven Cities Tour, at almost 200 km, is the world's largest speed skating competition and leisure skating tour, and is held in the province of Friesland, Netherlands only when the ice along the entire course is 15 cm thick.
Ice fever is sweeping the Netherlands where thousands of ice skaters are waiting to hear whether a historic race through 11 Dutch cities will be held this month, the first time since 1997.
For more: PhotoBlog - Dutch gripped by ice fever as military helps prepare route for historic skating race
Ice fever is sweeping the Netherlands where thousands of ice skaters are waiting to hear whether a historic race through 11 Dutch cities will be held this month, the first time since 1997.
For more: PhotoBlog - Dutch gripped by ice fever as military helps prepare route for historic skating race
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