Laurens Sweeck

Early career and rise to the pros

Laurens Sweeck was born on December 17, 1993, in Leuven, Belgium, into a true cycling family. His grandfather, Alfons Sweeck, was a former cyclist, and his twin brother Diether and family member Hendrik also pursued cycling. Naturally, Laurens took to the bike, particularly excelling in cyclo-cross and mountain biking. In 2011, he became the Belgian junior champion, and later won the U23 national titles in 2013 and 2015, defeating notable peers like Gianni Vermeersch and Wout van Aert.

At the end of 2015, after securing second place in the U23 World Championships behind Michael Vanthourenhout, Sweeck made the full transition to the professional ranks. In his first year, he finished as runner-up in the Belgian Championships behind Van Aert and then won his first major professional cyclo-cross race in Sint-Niklaas a few weeks later.

Championship rider and success in cyclo-cross series

Over the following years, Sweeck established himself as a championship rider. After finishing third in the Belgian Championships in 2017 and second in both 2016 and 2018, he finally claimed the Belgian title in 2020 in Antwerp while riding for Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal, the team he had joined in 2018.

Sweeck continued to improve, winning the Superprestige overall title in 2020. His first World Cup victory came in 2022, a landmark win as he went on to secure the overall World Cup title in the 2022-2023 season. This success marked his debut season with the Crelan team, which he joined on September 1, after spending several years alongside Eli Iserbyt and Michael Vanthourenhout under the management of Jurgen Mettepenningen.