It is not logical to make such a conclusion. If someone is used to cycle in The Netherlands, obviously they will have a difficult time if it is not flat. Furthe

It is not logical to make such a conclusion. If someone is used to cycle in The Netherlands, obviously they will have a difficult time if it is not flat. Further, if the country is flat, bikes of course can adjust to that (heavier bikes, etc). If you're used to cycling in a flat country, then it will be difficult to cycle in a non-flat country. This does not prove anything regarding that you need a flat country though. A typical bike in The Netherlands is crazy expensive, easily 500 EUR+ for one of the regular brands. With a more normal market, the bikes could be way better then what we're getting now. I'm from the Netherlands, I sweat when I cycle and my bike has 11 non-overlapping gears (similar to e.g. 24 speed overlapping one). There are a load of crappy bikes, mainly due to price of those bikes.