Cycle racing in Belgium

Cycle racing is a popular sport in Belgium. It is governed by the Royal Belgian Cycling League since 1882, which became a founding member of the International Cycling Association in 1892 and later of the Union Cycliste Internationale in 1900. Since 2002, the Royal Belgian Cycling League is composed of the Wielerbond Vlaanderen (WBV), which governs the cycle racing in Flanders and of the Fédération Cycliste Wallonie-Bruxelles (FCWB), which governs the cycle racing in Wallonia and Brussels. Belgium has been one of the major countries in different categories of cycle racing over the years, including road cycling and cyclo-cross. The best Belgian cyclist of all times, Eddy Merckx, nicknamed the Cannibal, has won all of the 3 grand tours (5 Tour de France and Giro d'Italia wins as well as 1 Vuelta a España win) and all of the 5 monuments of cycling. He also won the UCI Road World Championships 3 times and set the hour record, among other achievements.

At the Olympic Games, Belgium has won four gold medals for road cycling, with two victories for the men's team time trial (at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics) and two in the individual race, for André Noyelle in 1952 and Greg Van Avermaet in 2016. The time trial team had previously won the silver medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics and the bronze at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Belgium has also collected the silver medal for the individual race competition in 1924 (Henri Hoevenaers) and in 1952 (Robert Grondelaers) and the bronze in 1948 (Lode Wouters), 1960 (Willy van den Berghen), 1964 (Walter Godefroot) and 2004 (Axel Merckx).