Belgian bike has two priorities for 2022 – News

Natalie Clauert assumed her duties as General Manager at Belgian Cycling on 1 October. During these first months, she was able to get used to this new role and set the Federation’s priorities for the next season. Two aspects are clearly defined: off-road development and digitization of communications.

Give weight to MTB and BMX

A lover of the off-road disciplines, she wants to take mountain biking and BMX to a new level. “If not similar, go closer to road and cyclo-cross. I find these sports are not being highlighted enough. Either they are poorly organized and become everyone to themselves. Either they are not very well known, which is not pleasant for partners. The training offer should be extended.”

Another project: Digitizing communications. “We will have a new website where we will finally collect everything related to the union: scores, track and web magazine. It will all be on one platform. Besides the classics, we have launched a new app that aims to reach more fans. Our partners want marketing operations towards supporters. Plus In addition, we will also find RadioTour during the international and national races in Belgium. We will also find a newsletter in which we can see the various national team news.” According to Federation President Tom Van Dam, another challenge awaits the Federation: motivating people again. “A lot of people have given up over the past two years. The French speaking and Flemish wings will have a lot of work to re-motivate the runners and organizers.”

Not excited by non-European realms

Plus, you expect a lot from the track’s new coach, New Zealander Tim Carswell. “Bringing a foreign coach costs money, but sometimes you have to give yourself the means to realize your ambitions”, indicates. On the other hand, the fact that there will be two world championships on another continent in 2022, namely in Fayetteville (eUS) for cyclo-cross and in Wollongong (Australia) for the road is not a good thing for him. “It costs a lot of money and I’m not surprised to see some countries make their decisions. The Netherlands sent a limited delegation to the World Cyclo-Cross. Perhaps the UCI should think about a better distribution of world championships in the future.”

The year 2022 is therefore rich in the expenses of the Belgian Federation, not to mention the intervention in January to preserve the Belgian Cyclocross Championship in Middelkerke. “We do not have subsidies for cyclo-cross. As a result, we had to dive into our reserves to guarantee the Belgian championship. There was a shortage due to the absence of the public.”, sorry Tom Van Dam. Finally, there are the expenses related to health checks related to the Coronavirus, which already cost the federation at least 50,000 euros last season. However, there is no need to panic inside the body, ensuring its balance in finances.