OCM In Focus
  
  Netherlands are on top of the OCM world in more ways than one. They represent the largest nation in OCM with 262 ranked teams and can boast the highest number of ranked riders with 775. A Dutch team, skils, has led the OCM rankings for the last two seasons and has now retaken top spot after losing it briefly to Equipo Easy On this week. A staggering 8 of the 50 teams (16%) in the top division are based in the Netherlands (followed by Sweden and Australia who both have 5). A Dutch rider, Jens Waesbergen (Cyklista), leads the OCM rider rankings and has done so for most of the season. The same rider currently holds two Division 1 Classics – Norwich–London and the Helsinki GP – the only rider in Division to currently hold two big race titles. Netherlands have no less than 7 riders in the top of the rankings – which puts them, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, Number 1 in this regard. Need I continue?
  
  The riders
  
  In Jens Waebergen (Cyklista), Freek van Weenen (skils), Ralph van Bon (Team airik) and the upcoming star, Jelmer Wijkstra (Team Tirilla), the Netherlands have enough talented sprinters to make any National Team manager jealous. World Number 1, Jens Waesbergen, is surely the pick of the bunch at the moment. Since marking his debut season (Season 11) with the Youth Jersey at the at his home Netherlands Tour, Waesbergen has picked up enough victories in both Tours and one day races to suggest that it will take a lot to budge him from top spot. Ralph van Bon has not quite been able to repeat his unbeatable form of two seasons ago, but has improved this season and we will surely see more from him. Behind these two are the veteran Freek van Weenen, whose consistency has been a major factor behind skils’ domination, and the new rising star, Jelmer Wijkstra, who this week broke the 1000 points barrier for the first time.
  
  Though not as well-represented in the rankings as the

sprinters, the country is not short of climbers. Frerik van Fessum (Lanceerbaar) has been one of the most talented climbers in the Dutch ranks for the past few seasons, despite not spending much time in the top division – he is possibly the best climber never to win a Division 1 race. Frank van Galen (Il Grillo) and Nico Holt (Ursus RT) are other talented Dutch climbers, who have performed well for both club and country. The aptly named, Jeremy Hollander (skils) is the nation’s young hope and today picked up his first victory by taking the Division 1 race, Stuttgart – München.
  
  The National Team
  
  The Dutch National team, managed by skils manager Harwin Mulder, is quite obviously a strong group of riders. When you have the likes of van Bon, van Weenen and Wijkstra leading out Waesbergen, you’ll always going to be competitive. However, despite performing well, Netherlands did not manage to claim the Clash of Nation prize this season – a sterling Norwegian team took this title instead. Whilst Frank van Galen took 2nd in the CoN Rio de Janeiro, a succession of lower top 9 finishes was not quite enough to claim the overall title. However, with skill in abundance and young talent coming through, it surely won’t be long before Netherlands take victory.
  
  And finally….
  
  ….if we fast forward four seasons, will Netherlands still be top of the stats mentioned at the start? The country may be over 25% bigger than any other nation in OCM in terms of ranked teams, but they are certainly not the fastest growing. In the last season, Spain, Denmark and England (3rd, 4th and 5th) have all had more new teams to OCM than Netherlands. Additionally, out of the top 15 nations in OCM, only Germany grew by a smaller percentage in this period.
  
  And the fastest growing nation? Poland, who in the last three months doubled their number of ranked teams in OCM (28 to 55).