For the second year running, EvoDevo supported riders during the Christmas break, or Kerstperiode, as it’s known in Belgium – the most intensive period of the cyclocross racing calendar.
Thanks to funding from Ride For Charlie, we were able to send Andy, Sarah and Kev for five races: Exact Cross Loenhout, Superprestige Diegem, X20 Trofee Baal, X20 Trofee Koksijde and Superprestige Gullegem. We were able to offer support to all of this year’s applicants, namely Anna Patterson & Georgia Mahoney in the junior women, and Milo Wills, Arthur Limb, Luca Bednarek, Theo Sandell, Leon Atkins, Jody Mills, Thomas Lewis, Isaac Oliver and Mak Larkin in the junior men. Some of the riders also received individual funding from Ride For Charlie.
Most people did 2 or 3 races and performed well under the challenging conditions. There were top showings from Anna Patterson who finished 2nd junior woman (41st elite) at Diegem’s night cross, and a third place for Milo Wills in the junior men’s race at Gullegem. Other notable rides were 9th place for Milo at Koksijde, and very consistent strong performances of 13th & 14th for Luca Bednarek at Loenhout and Baal respectively. Unfortunately a broken frame put paid to Arthur Limb’s hopes of completing a string of 20-somethings at Baal, in what was looking like another strong ride. Check out the alumni page for full details of all the results achieved by riders with EvoDevo support.
The EvoDevo team worked hard for the riders throughout, but really came into their own on the final morning at Gullegem, having to bleed brakes, diagnose a shifter problem and fix the brake pad springs on two bikes. An important learning point – you can’t rely on bike shops being open at weekends in Belgium over Christmas, as we found out when we tried to source replacements! Remember – always bring your spares.
We received some lovely feedback from riders and parents alike:
“Thanks for making the races a great experience.”
“The EvoDevo support was invaluable… it was really beneficial for Ride For Charlie to support EvoDevo staff coming out in addition to [individual] rider support.”
“Last week was a brilliant experience… made even better because of the incredible support from EvoDevo and Ride For Charlie.”
“Could I say a massive thank you to Andy, Sarah and Kev for their support in Belgium… The first race I was very nervous I might mess something up in an important race but you guys and your support was amazing.”
But things were best summed up by Gavin Atkins, who said:
“Thanks everyone for the support and camaraderie. Well done to all the riders, it doesn’t come tougher than taking on the Belgians on their home soil!”