Belgian National Track Championships | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Genre | Track cycling |
Frequency | Annually |
Location(s) | Vlaams Wielercentrum Eddy Merckx |
Inaugurated | 1894 |
Organised by | Royal Belgian Cycling League |
The Belgian Track Cycling Championships are a series of competitions to determine who will become Belgian champion in the different parts of track cycling. [1]
Nowadays, the championships are always held at the Flemish Cycling Center Eddy Merckx, one of the two official 250m Olympic tracks in Belgium. [2] [3]
Since the first half of the 1900s, national-level track cycling trials were organized, initially limited to speed and pursuit only, then open to various track cycling specialties. [4] Among the multi-titled professionals of these events, Patrick Sercu holds the record with 30 national titles, followed by Kenny De Ketele (22), Jef Scherens (15) and Rik Van Steenbergen (12). [5] [6]
Patrick Sercu was a Belgian cyclist who was active on the road and track between 1961 and 1983. On track, he won the gold medal in the 1 km time trial at the 1964 Summer Olympics, as well as three world titles in the sprint in 1963, 1967 and 1969. On the road, he earned the green jersey in the 1974 Tour de France. Sercu is the record holder for the number of six-day track race victories, having won 88 events out of 223 starts between 1961 and 1983; several of these wins were with cycling great Eddy Merckx. He also won six stages at the Tour de France and eleven stages at the Giro d'Italia.
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