“End of a beautiful story”: Sven Vanthourenhout officially resigns as national coach the day after the Cycling World Championships

Sven Vanthourenhout resigned from his position as national coach on social media the day after the Cycling World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland. He has held that position since November 2020 and has won no fewer than 99 medals in just under four years. What the future holds for our compatriot remains to be seen.

The outgoing national coach did not complete the milestone of a hundred medals. Leader Remco Evenepoel finished fifth in the road stage on Sunday, which was won by Tadej Pogacar, and thus missed out on the medal. Vanthourenhout’s counter as national coach remains at 99, but he doesn’t care about that.

Vanthourenhout said goodbye the day after the World Cup with an Instagram post with the highlights and best moments during his period as national coach. “End of a very beautiful story,” wrote Vanthourenhout, who criticized the fact that he could only post a limited number of photos. “Many photos and videos are missing, too few people are featured, but I would like to sincerely thank all the people I have had the opportunity to work with in recent years.”

Shortly before the European Championships in their own country, Vanthourenhout and the Belgian Cycling Federation announced that they would part ways after the World Cup. The 43-year-old former rider is now looking for a new adventure. There is no shortage of offers, but where exactly Vanthourenhout’s future lies remains to be seen. “I will let this happen to me in the coming weeks and I will take a look at it calmly. What has been will not come back. What comes, will come,” Vanthourenhout ends his tenure as national coach somewhat philosophically.