Serge Pauwels becomes the new Belgian national coach for road cyclists, while Angelo De Clercq takes on the role of national coach for cyclo-cross riders. The 40-year-old Pauwels and 32-year-old De Clercq will replace Sven Vanthourenhout, who left Belgian Cycling after the 2024 World Championships. So, there is no Philippe Gilbert, who was a candidate for the national team. Pauwels was already part of the Belgian team as national coach of the Junior Men. Now, the former Belgian rider is making the step up and will become the national coach of the Elite and U23 Men. Angelo De Clercq will assist Pauwels and take on the role of talent coach for the Junior Men on the road. In addition, De Clercq will become the new national coach for cyclo-cross riders.
"We want to keep Belgian Cycling at the same level in the coming years,"
states chairman Tom Van Damme. "We are convinced we can consolidate the top places with this new structure. In any case, our operation will have no cutbacks in top sports."
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When Serge Pauwels was still a cyclist
Pauwels and De Clercq honored with their new roles
Pauwels feels enormously honored to take on his new role. "Especially now that we have one of the strongest generations of Belgians ever. I'm also looking forward to having juniors I've worked with in recent seasons in the higher categories on the team again in the coming years so that I can also experience their trajectory further."
De Clercq - who already served as interim team coach during the last European cyclo-cross championships - is also delighted. "I like the opportunity to combine two disciplines, road and field. There is also an overlap between the two disciplines. We saw in recent years that good cyclo-cross riders have become good road riders. We would like to preserve the Belgian cyclo-cross culture of the past few decades and expand and improve it even further. I find that a nice challenge."
Belgian Cycling is not finished with this because more spots remain to fill. A new Director of Topsport will be appointed, and the National Mountain Bike Coach role still needs to be filled. Changes will also follow on the track, as Kenny De Ketele will step down as national coach at the end of December.
Gilbert reacts fiercely, De Cauwer rather satisfied
With the promotion of Pauwels, Belgian Cycling did not listen to Gilbert's
open application. The former world champion reacted; therefore, he was anything but satisfied with his Instagram account. "I cherished the hope to become a national coach and to share my experience and passion with the current generation," he began his story. "The position was never open; the internal arrangements at Belgian Cycling prevailed over my application. I want to thank the many enthusiastic riders and the countless people who supported me."
At
Sporza, cycling analyst José De Cauwer emphasized that he understands Pauwels's choice. "He has worked as an assistant with Sven Vanthourenhout and knows the ins and outs of the union. So, it is the most logical choice. It will remain to be seen whether he is the right choice in addition to the rational choice, but I think he has sufficient knowledge of modern cycling."
Cian Uijtdebroeks of Visma | Lease a Bike looks forward to working with Pauwels, whom he already knows well. 'He has a lot of qualities, and he has already proven that in his youth. "The best thing we have already done together is the Tour de l'Avenir. That was a project we addressed together long beforehand," the young climber looks back on his 2022 final victory. "Serge is someone who makes a plan for that and figures everything out calmly. During the race, he also keeps his feet on the ground. He was a real top coach to have with me, which will be no different for other riders."