Cycling in the Netherlands: is there really always a headwind?
See what ten years of hourly wind data say about the Dutch headwind, coast against inland, and which way to ride the long-distance routes.
The short answer
No, but cycling in the Netherlands often feels that way, and the wind data shows why. On a round ride, a headwind covered about 40% of the distance but almost half the riding time, because it slows you down. Over ten years, the wind came most often from the south-west, and the coast was far windier than inland.
Key takeaways
- On a Dutch loop, about half your riding time faces a headwind, but only 40% of the distance.
- The North Sea coast averaged 24.2 km/h (15.0 mph) in riding hours; Eindhoven, inland, 14.0 km/h (8.7 mph).
- The wind is mostly south-westerly; spring brings more north-easterlies.
- Ride east or north-east where you can.
- May to September is the calmest time; winter is the windiest.
Definitions
- Along-route wind
- The part of the wind blowing straight along your direction of travel; against you it's a headwind, behind you a tailwind.
- Headwind hour
- A riding hour in which the wind along your direction of travel was more than 4 km/h (2.5 mph) against you.
- ERA5 reanalysis
- A record of past weather that blends observations from around the world with a weather model to fill in every hour and place.
Is the wind really always against you when cycling in the Netherlands?
No, but on a round ride it fills about half your riding time. We took ten years of hourly wind at six places, from the Zeeland coast to Twente, and tested every riding hour. The method, and the same test on other famous routes, is in our hub on prevailing winds on the world's great cycling routes.
Picture a loop that heads every compass direction equally. Averaged across the six places, a headwind blew on 39.5% of the distance. The same share was tailwind; the rest was side-on or calm.
But you ride slower into the wind, so you spend longer there: 48.4% of the riding time. You aren't imagining it; you just pass the tailwind stretches faster. And a headwind costs more than a tailwind gives back, so a windy loop is always slower than a calm one.
Is the coast windier than inland?
Much windier. Riding-hour wind on the North Sea coast at IJmuiden averaged 24.2 km/h (15.0 mph), against 14.0 km/h (8.7 mph) at Eindhoven.
| Place | Average wind, km/h (mph) | Hours at 20 km/h (12 mph) or more | Days a year with gusts of 50 km/h (31 mph) or more | Loop riding time into a headwind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IJmuiden, North Sea coast | 24.2 (15.0) | 61.4% | 106 | 54.6% |
| Vlissingen, Zeeland coast | 20.1 (12.5) | 46.3% | 94 | 51.0% |
| Leeuwarden, Friesland | 20.3 (12.6) | 47.8% | 104 | 51.3% |
| De Bilt, Utrecht | 15.3 (9.5) | 23.6% | 72 | 45.7% |
| Eindhoven, North Brabant | 14.0 (8.7) | 18.1% | 66 | 43.7% |
| Enschede, Twente | 14.2 (8.8) | 19.0% | 68 | 44.0% |
Friesland, in the open north, is as windy as the Zeeland coast. Inland, the joke loses its bite: at Eindhoven, 30.4% of riding hours had wind under 10 km/h (6 mph), against 9.2% at IJmuiden.
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Which months are calmest?
Late spring and summer. May to September had the lightest wind on the coast and inland; winter had the strongest.
| Month | IJmuiden (coast), km/h (mph) | De Bilt (inland), km/h (mph) |
|---|---|---|
| January | 28.5 (17.7) | 17.1 (10.6) |
| February | 28.0 (17.4) | 18.1 (11.2) |
| March | 25.2 (15.7) | 16.9 (10.5) |
| April | 22.3 (13.9) | 15.1 (9.4) |
| May | 20.5 (12.7) | 14.1 (8.8) |
| June | 20.2 (12.6) | 13.5 (8.4) |
| July | 21.2 (13.2) | 13.9 (8.6) |
| August | 21.2 (13.2) | 13.4 (8.3) |
| September | 22.0 (13.7) | 13.6 (8.5) |
| October | 25.8 (16.0) | 15.5 (9.6) |
| November | 27.3 (17.0) | 15.7 (9.8) |
| December | 28.0 (17.4) | 16.8 (10.4) |
Even in June, the coast had wind of 20 km/h (12 mph) or more in 48.3% of riding hours; De Bilt, 11.8%.
Where does the wind come from?
Mostly the south-west. Across the six places, 25.2% of riding hours had wind from the south-west, 16.4% from the west and 13.3% from the south. Spring brings more northerlies.
| Season, riding hours | Most common directions | From the north or north-east |
|---|---|---|
| Winter | SW 31.2%, S 17.8%, W 17.4% | 9.3% |
| Spring | SW 18.1%, W 14.7%, NE 13.4% | 23.8% |
| Summer | SW 25.1%, W 19.8%, NW 11.8% | 18.1% |
| Autumn | SW 26.3%, S 18.4%, W 13.8% | 10.9% |
In April, north-east was the most common direction at four of the six places, so a spring ride north can meet a headwind.
Which way should you ride the LF routes?
East or north-east, where you have the choice. In summer, riding east had a tailwind at all six places, and riding west a headwind. Year-round, north-east did best, with a 6.6 km/h (4.1 mph) average tailwind.
| Heading, June to August | Coast (IJmuiden): wind along the road, km/h (mph) | Headwind hours | Inland (De Bilt): wind along the road, km/h (mph) | Headwind hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North | 0.6 (0.4) tailwind | 39.4% | 2.0 (1.2) tailwind | 28.5% |
| North-east | 6.8 (4.2) tailwind | 29.9% | 5.1 (3.2) tailwind | 23.5% |
| East | 9.0 (5.6) tailwind | 21.5% | 5.3 (3.3) tailwind | 20.2% |
| South | 0.6 (0.4) headwind | 42.7% | 2.0 (1.2) headwind | 44.2% |
| South-west | 6.8 (4.2) headwind | 55.7% | 5.1 (3.2) headwind | 54.1% |
| West | 9.0 (5.6) headwind | 63.5% | 5.3 (3.3) headwind | 57.2% |
- LF Kustroute (625 km, 388 miles, Cadzand-Bad to Bad Nieuweschans). The Dutch part of EuroVelo 12. Start at Cadzand-Bad: riding north up the coast is close to a draw in summer, but the Wadden coast pays. At Leeuwarden, summer riders heading east averaged a 7.2 km/h (4.5 mph) tailwind and met headwinds 22.5% of the time, against 61.6% heading west.
- The Rhine to Hook of Holland. The final run west to the sea faces the prevailing wind. Our Rhine Cycle Route guide explains why downstream is still the better way overall.
- LF Zuiderzeeroute (447 km, 278 miles, a loop from Amsterdam). On a loop, direction makes no difference on average, so pick clockwise or anticlockwise the week you go, from the forecast.
Where are you most exposed?
On the coast, the dykes and the Wadden. Our coastal and Frisian places had 14 to 19 days a year with gusts of 75 km/h (47 mph) or more; inland, 8 to 9.
Dykes lift you above the fields, and dams across open water give no shelter. Side-on gusts there move you around: see riding in crosswinds. Plan the long open days, such as the Zuiderzeeroute's 70 km (43-mile) stage from Medemblik to Workum, for a lighter or following wind.
How should you plan around the wind for your dates?
Use the averages to shape the trip; then the forecast takes over.
- Go between May and September for the lightest wind.
- Finish in the east on point-to-point trips, and keep coast days short in spring.
- Know your limits. Check how windy is too windy to cycle; official warnings always come first.
- Read the forecast against the road a week out and the evening before: see reading a forecast for a bike ride.
For more trips, see the best cycling routes in Europe.
Frequently asked questions
How much longer does a Dutch round ride take because of the wind?
A little. For our model touring rider, who does 24.1 km/h (15.0 mph) in still air, year-round wind made a loop 2.2% slower than still air at Eindhoven and Enschede, and 6.5% slower at IJmuiden on the coast. Averaged over all six places, that's 3.7%: about two minutes in every hour.
Where is the calmest place to cycle in the Netherlands?
The south and east. Of our six places, Eindhoven in North Brabant had the lightest riding-hour wind, 14.0 km/h (8.7 mph), with 30.4% of hours under 10 km/h (6 mph). Enschede in Twente was close behind at 14.2 km/h (8.8 mph). Both lie well inland, far from the North Sea.
How often is it too windy to cycle on the Dutch coast?
Rarely in summer. At IJmuiden, gusts reached 75 km/h (47 mph) on 19.1 days a year, but only 1.5 of those days fell in June, July and August; January alone averaged 4.0. Our guide to [how windy is too windy to cycle](/blog/how-windy-is-too-windy-to-cycle/) explains the limits, and official warnings always come first.
What are the LF routes?
They're the Netherlands' signed long-distance cycle routes, about 3,700 km (2,300 miles) of them, looked after by the Fietsplatform foundation, which counts 756,000 trips on them a year. Older routes use green-and-white signs with a number and an A or B; the LF Kustroute and LF Zuiderzeeroute are signed by name in both directions. Nederland Fietsland lists them all.
Can I trust reanalysis wind data for a Dutch ride?
For the climate, yes; for a single day, no. ERA5 averages wind over grid cells about 31 km (19 miles) across, at 10 m (33 ft) above ground. Coastal cells take in some sea, so they may read windier than a path behind the dunes, while an open dyke can feel windier than any average. The forecast for your dates is what tells you about your ride.
Get the wind for your ride.
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Make a free ride page →Sources and method
- Copernicus Climate Change Service (ECMWF) (2026). ERA5 hourly time-series data on single levels from 1940 to present
- Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis (Hersbach et al.)
- Copernicus Climate Change Service (ECMWF) (2026). ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present
- ECMWF (2026). ERA5: data documentation (native resolution 31 km)
- Nederland Fietsland (Fietsplatform) (2026). LF routes
- Nederland Fietsland (Fietsplatform) (2026). LF Kustroute
- Nederland Fietsland (Fietsplatform) (2026). LF Zuiderzeeroute
- Fietsplatform (2026). Fietsplatform (English)
Windline's data desk took hourly 10 m wind (the u and v components, turned into speed and direction) and 10 m gusts from the Copernicus Climate Data Store, dataset ERA5 hourly time-series data on single levels (reanalysis-era5-single-levels-timeseries, doi:10.24381/1cf1ad76), for 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2024 (ten full years). ERA5 is described by Hersbach et al. (2020). This is a site study, not a route line: six places, each taking the nearest ERA5 0.25° grid cell. They are Vlissingen on the Zeeland coast (cell 51.5° N 3.5° E), IJmuiden on the North Sea coast (52.5° N 4.5° E), Leeuwarden in Friesland (53.25° N 5.75° E), De Bilt in Utrecht (52.0° N 5.25° E), Eindhoven in North Brabant (51.5° N 5.5° E) and Enschede in Twente (52.25° N 7.0° E). ECMWF gives the model's native resolution as about 31 km, so these are area averages, not roadside readings, and the coastal cells include some sea. Riding hours are the values stamped 08:00 to 17:00 local time inclusive (Europe/Amsterdam, summer time applied). Figures are year-round unless a season is named; winter is December to February, spring March to May, summer June to August and autumn September to November. Wind direction shares count where the wind comes from in eight sectors; hours under 5 km/h (3 mph) count as calm. The heading table takes a ride heading towards each of eight compass points: the along-route wind is the wind speed times the cosine of the angle between where the wind comes from and the direction of travel, and a headwind hour has more than 4 km/h (2.5 mph) against you. The loop test rides every heading from 0° to 350° in 10° steps, equally by distance, in every riding hour: the distance share counts the heading-hours with a headwind, and the time share weights each by its modelled riding time. Modelled riding time uses a steady-power touring rider: 100 kg (220 lb) of rider, bike and luggage, 120 W, rolling resistance 0.006, drag area 0.45 m², air density 1.2 kg/m³, which gives 24.1 km/h (15.0 mph) in still air; wind at rider height is taken as 0.65 times the 10 m wind, and crosswind drag is ignored. The national figures (39.5% of distance, 48.4% of time, the direction shares and the 6.6 km/h north-east tailwind) are simple averages of the six places. The 3.7% in the FAQ is our arithmetic, the average of the six loop figures (4.4, 6.5, 4.5, 2.6, 2.2 and 2.2%); "two minutes in every hour" is 3.7% of 60 minutes. The north-or-north-east column adds the two sectors. Gust days count local days whose highest hourly gust reached 50 km/h (31 mph) or 75 km/h (47 mph), averaged per year; the table rounds them to whole days. Route facts (lengths, ends, stages and signs) come from Nederland Fietsland and Fietsplatform, read on 11 October 2026. Every other figure is in results.json in the study's data folder (sites.netherlands). Imperial conversions use 1 mile = 1.609 km and 1 km/h = 0.621 mph. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information (ERA5, 2015–2024); neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of this information.
About the author
Wes Thomson, Founder, Windline. Wes Thomson builds Windline, live wind and weather forecasts timed to when riders reach each stretch of road. He built it for his own 2,093 km tour from Pont Drift to Cape Town, and writes these guides with the same focus: what the wind will do to your ride, and how to plan around it.