Fyftjin en Fierder is an artwork by Pieter Jan Stallen. The work is about both the history and the future of the Eleven Cities Tour – very deliberately, it is about both!
Fyftjin en Fierder symbolises “the past and longing”. The chosen location – halfway along the Eleven Cities route – reinforces this idea.
To represent the remarkable past – the 15 tours held in the previous century – the artist chose silhouettes made of sturdy corten steel: one skater and 14 spectators. The silhouette of the skater represents the 1986 tour, which was a very exceptional year indeed: W.A. van Buren, the Crown Prince of the Netherlands at the time, took part in the race!
The sense of longing is represented by the silhouette of a little girl sitting on her father’s shoulders, looking towards Parrega and what lies ahead – the future…
