It’s been a great year for Belgian cycling, with the cherry on top being that Belgium has taken first place on the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) world ranking.
Cycling is one of the most popular sports in Belgium, and it shows: our cyclists are key players on a global scale. In fact, the success of individual Belgian talents is to thank for Belgium’s top UCI position of 17901.5 points. The runner-up, Spain, is outranked by more than 6,000 points.
In terms of individual ranking, Wout van Aert (4525 points) is finishing the year in second place, followed closely by compatriot Remco Evenepoel (4402.5 points). Just a little further down, in sixth place, Arnaud De Lie is the third Belgian in the top ten.
While van Aert has more UCI points, Evenepoel has certainly earned the spotlight, having won the classic race Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Vuelta and the road world championships, becoming the first person to do so in 42 years.
Remco’s achievements are being recognized with multiple trophies, the most prestigious of which is the Vélo d’Or, an international award that Remco himself has compared to the Ballon d’Or in football. The runner-up for this year’s Vélo d’Or was none other than the Belgian he shares the UCI podium with: Wout van Aert.
Belgian women have also stood out in 2022, especially Lotte Kopecky, who won the women’s Tour of Flanders and the Strade Bianche race in Italy. She was also runner-up for the women’s Vélo d’Or.
Evenepoel, van Aert, Kopecky, each of them are world-class athletes, but with his track record and insatiability, the greatest – perhaps the best cyclist ever – remains the one they call “The Cannibal”, Eddy Merckx.
