Dear friends in sport, the selection of the “2022 Belgian Project graduation & bursary awards” will be announced in 10 days’ time (Wed 22nd June) This is after the Ras and just before the Nationals. From the 2020 & 2021 (due to Covid being postponed till this year) which applied, and adding the 2022 entries, I had 56 entries…this is now reduced to 18 in his penultimate phase. A further 6 I will have to disappoint (most of them will have another chance in 2023) a very hard decision, which I don’t make likely, and hate at times, but part of what I have to do, and based not only on results but the character of the young rider, the will and ability to learn, and in the graduate’s case the availability is also important. Four riders (graduates) will be selected to race in Belgium and will receive some help financially, eight others will receive some funding to help with their travels to races. This funding has been partly donated by the sponsors/advertisers on this forum and partly from my MC jobs, to establish the budget this year. The successful riders will be contacted before the official announcement on the 22nd of June, regards Dany
Here is some info on what is needed to race in Belgium document-wise, important for my graduates, but also for anyone who wants to race in Belgium individual, this info was provided by the Chairman of the West Flanders Cycling Federation Eric Vanrobaeys- PC WPV, rules that count for each province in the Flanders (5)
The riders must always present the following at the races;
1/ UCI license
2/ Admission of their Federation to race abroad.
They must always register for the races via the Cycling Vlaanderen site, via their portal >> https://portal.cycling.vlaanderen/
The juniors can only start in the competitions for juniors (1.14).
The Espoirs (U23) can start in the UCI 1.12 races, but when riding with a continental team, they can only start in the UCI 1.12 A races, and possibly in the elite individual (the well-known professional cyclist races in Belgium.
The female U17 rider can start in the women’s youth competitions (1.16). If one day there is no 1.16 competition in Belgium, she can start with the boys U17.
If you have any questions, feel free to let us know, yours in sport, Eric Vanrobaeys, Chairman PC WPV
The calendar: https://cycling.vlaanderen/competitie/kalender
My dear friend from Belgium, ex-colleague and well know Dj (The Great Milenko) Mario from Wervik is on a visit here due to some concerts of PIL (Johnny Rotten’s band) and reunite after covid with my family, we didn’t see each other for 3 year. Mario and his wife Ann have been looking after me for more than 10 years, as with a small budget I can not afford to spend money on accommodation while arranging things in Belgium, visiting guest parents or seeing the lads racing at times. So time to return the favor, and after a pleasant reunite day yesterday, this with a few Guinness and a dram of Irish whiskey, and even ending up in a sort of hen party, we are ready to visit a classic race in Banbridge today…they come not much better than the Noel Teggart, a perfect day out for the lads…I just feel that kind people like Ann and Mario should also be once in the spotlight…all part of the success of the Belgian Project
