Overjise (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Drivenkoers in Overijse will now focus on young riders for the first time in 64 years due to scheduling conflicts with the Grape Festival. Once famous with stars like Merckx and Evenepoel, it struggled to attract pros.
The Drivenkoers race in Overjise, in Flemish Brabant, Belgium is going to be just for young riders now for the first time in 64 years. The people who run the race decided to do this because it’s been hard to get top riders to come. After all, the race is always at the same time as the Grape Festival. They think it’s a good idea to focus on young riders because they already know how to run races for them. They mentioned that lots of young riders in the area want to race.
Will Overijse’s Drivenkoers thrive as a youth-only race?
The people in Overijse are excited about the new youth race. They think it’s good to help young riders in the area get better at cycling. The people who run the race, the local cycling club, and the town are all working together to make sure the race is good and well-organized.
According to the officials, this is part of a bigger trend in Belgium to help young riders get started in cycling. They mentioned that the Drivenkoers will still be an important event in the area, and it will help young riders become great cyclists in the future.
The Drivenkoers bike race in Overise was once very famous, with famous riders like Roger De Vlaeminck, Eddy Merckx, and Johan Museeuw competing. According to the officials, in 2021, Remco Evenepoel won, showing it was still a good race. But lately, it’s been harder to get big names to race.
They mentioned that this is because the pro cycling world has changed, with lots of races and teams changing their plans. One of the biggest problems is that the race is always held at the same time as the Grape Festival.
The people who run the Drivenkoers race know it’s hard to get the best riders. Other races can change their dates, but Drivenkoers can’t. This makes it hard to get top riders because they are already busy with other races.
According to Nicolas, they can keep the race at the same time as the festival, but maybe fewer riders will come. Or they can try to move the race to a different time, which might be better for riders, but might not be as good for the town.
But in recent years it has become increasingly difficult to get big names at the start. That is because the race is linked to the Grape Festival and so we are not flexible in choosing the best date to organize such a race for professional cyclists,
says Nicolas De Nis of Flanders Classics.
