Kopecky subscribes to the rainbow
World champion for the second year in a row, second in the Gravel World Cup, European time trial champion at home in Hasselt, also winner of Paris-Roubaix and the Strade Bianche, of the UAE Tour, of a stage of the Giro for a total of sixteen victories (her double in the Belgian championship, road and time, given her level, seems… anecdotal): Lotte Kopecky had a very rich, very dense. Also marked by her bronze medal at the Olympic Games on the road (she finished 4th on the track, at the omnium level), her two silver medals at the World Track Championships at the points race and elimination or even her European champion titles in these same disciplines. As for Remco, Lotte impresses!
Philipsen’s first monument
He won much less than last season, when his victory counter showed nineteen winners’ bouquets. But Jasper Philipsen’s year was largely successful. With his first victory on a monument, in Milan-Sanremo, his three new stage victories in the Tour de France and an omnipresence on the classics, with his victory in Bruges-La Panne, but also his second place, as in 2023 , at Paris-Roubaix, or his fourth position at Ghent-Wevelgem. Aged 26, the one who extended until the end of 2028 in Mathieu van der Poel’s team remains the safe bet of the sprint in Belgium with his former teammate, Tim Merlier, victorious sixteen times in 2024, including the title European champion at home in Hasselt.
The young Belgian guard
Belgium has once again finished in first place in the International Cycling Union’s world rankings. Thanks to the locomotives Remco Evenepoel and Jasper Philipsen. But also to the young Belgian guard, led by Maxim Van Gils, Arnaud De Lie and Lennert Van Eetvelt. Maxim Van Gils has truly blossomed this season, with his places of honor in the classics (3rd in the Flèche Wallonne and the Strade Bianche, 4th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Grand Prix de Montréal) without forgetting his victories, including that in Frankfurt. Lennert Van Eetvelt, for his part, confirmed all the promises of 2023. Despite his physical problems during the season, he won two World Tour events, the UAE Tour and the Tour of Guangxi, while finishing third in the Clasica San Sebastian , seventh in the Tour of Lombardy and… second in a stage of the Tour of Spain that he would have won if he had not got up too early.
De Lie’s mind
He is still part of the young Belgian guard. His third season among the pros allowed him to continue to enrich his record. Despite a difficult start to the year, undermined by Lyme disease. While everything was successful so far for Arnaud De Lie, the Bull of Lescheret had to face a very difficult period. But he came back in force, to reap victories (a stage of the Renewi Tour, Walloon events like the Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic, Binche-Chimay-Binche or the Circuit de Wallonie, the Tour of Denmark, the Tro Bro Leon) all by winning the title of Belgian champion, in Zottegem, won in force, against a solid field.
Arnaud De Lie: “In Grammont, the most beautiful of my victories”
Remco talks about its recovery program for 2025
