Para-cycling Road World Cup in Ostend
The city of Ostend has just hosted a round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup, where Belgians won 12 medals, including 5 gold. That is a record at this level of competition!
The best paracyclists in handbike, bike, tricycle and tandem met at the Belgian Coast for the sixth Para-Cycling Road World Cup Ostend. This event is the first of three rounds this year in the framework of the 2022 World Cup organised under the aegis of the UCI (International Cycling Union).
The competition took place over four days and included two time trials. The first race was for riders on handbikes and tricycles, while the second was for those on bicycles or tandems. Then came the road races, with riders divided according to the type of bike ridden, just like in the time trials. Participants were then classified into different categories according to the nature of their disability.
Alone against the clock, Maxime Hordies, our handbike bronze medalist at the last Olympics in Tokyo, won a magnificent gold medal in the MH1 category, as did Ewoud Vromant the next day in the MC2 bike time trial.
In the road race, Maxime Hordies (MH1) again finished on top of the podium on his handbike, as did Jonas Van de Steene (MH4) and Jean-François Deberg (MH3) who also finished with a gold medal around their necks.
We will follow these exceptional athletes during the next rounds of the World Cup scheduled for Germany and Canada.