Winsum

Winsum (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪnsʏm]) is a municipality and a town in the northeastern Netherlands.

The town of Winsum was officially established in 1057 as the fusion of three historic villages: Obergum (North), Winsum (center) and Bellingeweer (South). The majority of the town's 8,000 inhabitants commute to the nearby city Groningen.

The town boasts two traditional Dutch wind mills, two historic churches, two canals, and one of the Netherlands' oldest taverns. The two mills, "De Ster" ("The Star") and "De Vriendschap" ("The Friendship") were built in 1851 and 1801 respectively. The building that the tavern "De Gouden Karper" ("The Golden Carp") now occupies has been in use as a tavern since the 16th century, and is the oldest (unverified) in the Netherlands.

Winsum is twinned with the Polish town Lubraniec.

Sport

Cycling

Winsum hosted the start and finish of stage 4a during the 2012 Energiewacht Tour and the individual time trial (stage 3a) at the 2013 Energiewacht Tour. Due to the success of the 2012 Energiewacht Tour the city became host city for the men's and women's 2013 Dutch National Time Trial Championships on 19 June 2013. The individual time trial at the 2013 Energiewacht Tour took place on the same course.