Belgian Cycling has decided to eliminate bonuses for cyclists who win medals at major events such as the UCI Road World Championships, saying the outstanding performances in the past five years have made the practice ‘unsustainable’.
The country won five road world titles in the past three years, with Lotte Kopecky winning back-to-back road race titles and Remco Evenepoel doing the same in the individual time trial after winning the road race in 2022.
According to a report in Sporza, the Belgian federation made the decision because the number of medals and their associated bonuses tripled between 2019 and 2023 and threatened the organisation’s finances.
Bonuses have reportedly included €25,000 for a world title in the road race for Kopecky and €6,000 for Evenepoel’s time trial title, and in 2023 totalled €125,576, according to Het Nieuwsblad.
Belgian Cycling CEO Nathalie Clauwaert said, “We have found that the system – as it has been for years – is no longer financially sustainable”.
The bonuses are in addition to prize money offered by the UCI and are of particular interest to riders of smaller disciplines that don’t enjoy the salaries of a rider like Evenepoel, but scrapping the incentives is important to ensure the future of other programmes.
“It is a measure that we have coordinated internally with the riders and national coaches,” Clauwaert said. “We know that it is not a popular measure, but we could still count on understanding.”
The costs to national federations have risen with increased costs for flights to far-flung locations like Australia in 2022 and Rwanda next year.
“I also speak to fellow federations and they are having a hard time keeping their national programs running. There are several reasons for that,” Clauweart added.
“For example, there has been an increase in the costs of hotel stays and flights. Wage costs have also increased and there is an internationalisation of the sport. Nowadays we often have to travel much further – just think of the World Championships in Wollongong. Of course, all of that has its price.”
The bonuses are separate from those provided by the Belgian Olympic committee which awards €50,000 for individuals winning a gold medal – Evenepoel claimed two this year in Paris, with €30,000 for silver and €20,000 for bronze.
