Jan Raas haunts you

Borsele, Zeeland, The Netherlands

Cycling route: 770988

Provided by: Algemeen Dagblad

103.3 km
06:04 h
1820 kcal
3 m

Description

With a little imagination you can see it toiling along the banks of the Zesterschelde. Cycling icon Jan Raas laid the foundation for his successful career here.

Raas now has his own route. Not that he's that impressed himself. We think, because he doesn't talk to the media. Since he stepped down as manager of the Rabobank team in 2003, he has led a retired life. And so it was not surprising that in 2016 he failed to attend the opening of the route through Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland in his hometown's-Heerenhoek. His brother-in-law Cees Raas, who for years looked after the bicycle of the former world champion, did the honours.

Somehow the smoke screen adds something to the route. Race races invisibly with you. Attaches to your rear wheel like a ghost rider. You quickly think of one of those ten Tour stages that the power man won, often solo but also as the strongest in the sprint. Or classics such as Paris-Roubaix, Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders, which are on his list of achievements. Especially if you take the 101-kilometer tour on a racing bike. Those who think that is too long still have no excuse to stay at home. The route can be shortened to 46 and 55 kilometers and can therefore also be done on a regular bicycle or e-bike.

Hot spots

Anyone who spends a day in Zeeland by bike will soon choose the Oosterschelde. Or the storm surge barrier. Or the Zeeland Bridge. They always appeal to the imagination. Nevertheless, the Jan Raas route quietly ignores these hotspots. The arrows point the way along the banks of the busy Westerschelde, where the wind is always a bit annoying. Take Raas\\\' residence as a starting point and you first go through the Vlissingen-Oost port area, a less charming route. Just before Vlissingen, the route branches off to Ritthem (with a nice stretch past Fort Rammekens), after which you leave Walcheren via Nieuw- en Sint Joosland.

Back in the Zak van Zuid-Beveland, the meandering over the dikes begins
Once back in the Zak van Zuid-Beveland, the meandering starts over dikes, past fruit orchards and lovely polder houses. It sometimes seems as if time has stood still here. Potatoes and fruit are for sale at stalls in the driveways of farmyards. Via Langeweegje (the former home of the cyclist Johnny Hoogerland who emigrated to Austria), the Western Scheldt comes into view again at Hoedekenskerke. Here and a little further on at Ellewoutsdijk you can almost touch the other side (Terneuzen). Hoedekenskerke has another nice thing: De Restauratiewagen, an old train set on the dike, has been converted into a cute little bar.

killer

The stretch along the Western Scheldt is about 20 kilometers long and can be a killer for many in a headwind. Perhaps that is why all route signs have a symbol of a wind catcher. As a warning. Because in Zeeland the wind will turn against you sooner or later. In the municipality of Borsele you return to's-Heerenhoek via Jan Raas\\\'s birthplace Heinkenszand, which once originated on a sandbank. If it's okay with with tired legs. But whoever gets it into his head to whine about that, should think about Jan Raas one last time. After all, we never heard them complain.

Text: Raymond de Frel
Parking Bicycle cafe Restaurant Chapel or cross Tourist train station Windmill Fort

Height Profile

Algemeen Dagblad

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Directions

# Description Distance
Parkeerplaats (Stenevate, 4451AB, Borsele, Zeeland, The Netherlands) 0.00 km
De Hoop (romp/restant) (De Hoop, 4451BL, Borsele, Zeeland, The Netherlands) 0.70 km
53
53 (4451HJ, Borsele, Zeeland, The Netherlands) 1.18 km
87
87 (4453BR, Borsele, Zeeland, The Netherlands) 5.77 km
86
86 (4453AA, Borsele, Zeeland, The Netherlands) 6.86 km
St. Nickolas (Schorerpolderweg, 4389VB, Vlissingen, Zeeland, The Netherlands) 18.58 km

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