Joop Zoetemelk was the first winner of Veenendaal-Veenendaal in 1985. But the last Dutch tour winner is the only big name on the honor roll of the most important one-day race in the province of Utrecht. In the previous 35 editions, Jean-Paul van Poppel, Vjatsjeslav Ekimov, Jeroen Blijlevens, Tom Boonen and Edvald Boasson Hagen also stood on the top step of the podium.