Race around the Netherlands GX

Race around the Netherlands GX is a lap of a whole country by bike, ridden fully self-supported with no outside help and no prize money. The organiser frames it as a personal challenge against the clock rather than against each other: you plan your own food, sleep and navigation, and the tracker simply shows everyone at home where you are.

From a cyclists' café in Amerongen, the route runs anti-clockwise through the northern provinces, crosses the IJsselmeer and hops by ferry to Texel before following the North Sea coast south towards Brabant and the hills of Limburg. Around two thirds is paved and the rest is gravel roads, forest single track and the odd rough crossing, much of it through nature reserves that close to riders at night, which is why the organiser maps mandatory 'dark detours' for anyone who keeps going after sunset.

It is run by Adventure Bike Racing, the organiser behind other self-supported races such as the Three Peaks Bike Race and Race Around Norway. The 2025 edition showed how seriously it can be raced: former road pro Laurens ten Dam won the full loop in a little over 107 hours, many hours clear of the next rider, while most full-loop finishers needed six to seven days.