 Nicolaes in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 1 January 2004 Boorsem, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Discipline | Track | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Professional team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Lotto Dstny Ladies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Julie Nicolaes (born 1 January 2004) is a Belgian cyclist. [1] She competed in the women's sprint and keirin events at the 2024 Summer Olympics. [2]
Nicolaes started BMX racing at the age of eight and switched seven years later to Track cycling after attending initiation lessons organised by Cycling Vlaanderen. [3] National success came quickly: in December 2019, she became Belgian keirin, sprint and 500 m time trial youth champion. [4] [5] [6] And at the age of 18, she won the national track titles in the sprint, keirin and 500 m time trial at the Belgium championships for juniors. [7]
In July of 2022, she won her first international championship medals at the 2022 UEC European Track Championships (under-23 & junior) in Anadia, Portugal winning the silver in the junior's 500 m time trial and the bronze in the junior's sprint. [8] A month later, she followed that up with bronze medals at the 2022 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Tel Aviv, Israel in the 500 m time trial and sprint. [9] [10]
A year later, in July of 2023, she won another silver at the 2023 UEC European Track Championships (under-23 & junior) in Anadia, Portugal finishing runner-up in the under-23 500 m time trial. [11] At the end of that year, she won her first national title for elite rider, winning the 500 m time trial. [12]
In July 2024 Belgian Cycling selected Nicolaes for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France as Belgium sent for the first time ever two female riders to the Olympic sprint tournament. [13] [14] At the Olympics, she finished joint 19th in the women's keirin and 24th in the women's sprint.
Nicolaes' father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all cyclists. Her grandfather opened a bike shop, now run by her father Johan (Cycling Nicolaes in Lanaken). Her father is also a freelance mechanic with Belgium's Lotto Cycling Team. [15] From 2021 onwards, she attended the Topsportschool in Ghent, Belgium where she studies business management. [16]
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