Belgium racing
By Ian Whitehead, Ruxley Cycles near Orpington, Kent
I started taking junior cyclists to Belgium back in 1997. Since then, I, along with my
colleagues John Barclay and Dave Storey, have had incredible success with our juniors and nieuwelingen (youths).
Successes include the time when John Barclay managed his South East Team at Junior Paris-Roubaix and returned home with a first and second thanks to Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard, who have since moved on to big pro teams.
Recent success includes Erick Rowsell, who I took over to Belgium when he was just 14 years old. Erick never turned down an opportunity to come with me. Last year he won his first nieuwelingen race . This year he had a great debut as a junior in Belgium which included two victories and an excellent second place in a big International Stage Race as part of our South East Team. Next year he moves onto the British Federations Olympic Development Programme.
John, Dave and I receive great satisfaction watching our lads develop into good cyclists.
How to do it
Racing in Belgium is a lot different nowadays compared to when I was doing it back in the 80s. Then there were just two categories, Professional
and Amateur.
Now the amateurs are split into Under 23 (Belefote) and Elite, although these two catagories more often race with each other.
Then you had to buy the local paper to find out information on the local races of that day, now
a click of your mouse will take you to www.wielerbondvlaanderen.be with everything you need
to know.
It’s all in Flemish, but select Kalenders then weg-piste-veld (road track, cyclo-cross) and there you find your race. But be warned, you would need to race at a fairly high level in the UK to make your trip worthwhile.
Races in Belgium are flat out from the gun with bigger fields.
Entry fees into the races are cheaper than you have in the UK, just 3 Euros, plus 5 Euros deposit for your number, and the prizes are higher, always down to the first 30 places.
Kingsnorth Int Wheelers
My good friend Peter Murphy of Nico Sport (www.nicosport.be) and I have our UK registered club in Belgium, Kingsnorth International Wheelers.
As the name suggests, it is made up from Elite and Under 23 category foreign riders all hoping for that big break in Flanders, the home of cycle racing.
The team ride a mixture of local kermesse races (circuit races) and Interclubs. The Interclubs have all the big amateur and Continental teams who ride by invitation only.
Join us!
So if you are an under 16 Youth or Junior and would like to race in Belgium with the South East Team please contact me at ianwhitehead9464@aol.com or John Barclay at john.barclay@virgin.net
If you are an Elite or Under 23 rider and would like to spend the year racing for Kingsnorth International Wheelers then contact me, ianwhitehead9464@aol.com or Peter Murphy at vipimurphy@btopenworld.com
Tot Ziens!”
Visit my shop at www.ruxleycycles.co.uk/kingsnorth