Belgian Biking has determined to eradicate bonuses for cyclists who win medals at main occasions such because the UCI Highway World Championships, saying the excellent performances previously 5 years have made the observe ‘unsustainable’.
The nation gained 5 street world titles previously three years, with Lotte Kopecky successful back-to-back street race titles and Remco Evenepoel doing the identical within the particular person time trial after successful the street race in 2022.
Based on a report in Sporza, the Belgian federation made the choice as a result of the variety of medals and their related bonuses tripled between 2019 and 2023 and threatened the organisation’s funds.
Bonuses have reportedly included €25,000 for a world title within the street race for Kopecky and €6,000 for Evenepoel’s time trial title, and in 2023 totalled €125,576, in line with Het Nieuwsblad.
Belgian Biking CEO Nathalie Clauwaert mentioned, “We have now discovered that the system – because it has been for years – is not financially sustainable”.
The bonuses are along with prize cash provided by the UCI and are of specific curiosity to riders of smaller disciplines that do not benefit from the salaries of a rider like Evenepoel, however scrapping the incentives is essential to make sure the way forward for different programmes.
“It’s a measure that we have now coordinated internally with the riders and nationwide coaches,” Clauwaert mentioned. “We all know that it’s not a well-liked measure, however we might nonetheless depend on understanding.”
The prices to nationwide federations have risen with elevated prices for flights to far-flung places like Australia in 2022 and Rwanda subsequent yr.
“I additionally communicate to fellow federations and they’re having a tough time retaining their nationwide applications operating. There are a number of causes for that,” Clauweart added.
“For instance, there was a rise within the prices of lodge stays and flights. Wage prices have additionally elevated and there’s an internationalisation of the game. These days we regularly need to journey a lot additional – simply consider the World Championships in Wollongong. After all, all of that has its value.”
The bonuses are separate from these offered by the Belgian Olympic committee which awards €50,000 for people successful a gold medal – Evenepoel claimed two this yr in Paris, with €30,000 for silver and €20,000 for bronze.
