Ronde van Drenthe wants to take a step up. The organizers have applied for 1.HC status. President Femmy van Issum wants to make the move to keep the race attractive for the teams.

"Two Belgian races which are similar to us and they have already managed to get a higher rating," Van Issum tells De Hoogeveensche Courant . "The Belgian races have all applied for hors category status (.HC) for 2017. The Ronde van Drenthe should also make that step. Those races have close ties with the international cycling federation UCI. We must not stay behind. Therefore, we quickly applied to also be moved to the top category. We are waiting for an answer. I do not know whether it succeeds for next year, but for 2018 we have a good chance.” 

Van Issum also said that the Ronde van Drenthe starts in Emmen in 2018. From that year, the starting place of the one-day race for men and the WorldTour race for women will rotate through the province of Drenthe. Hoogeveen will remain finishing city.

This year Jesper Asselman took the win. The race is scheduled for March 11.