The City of Brussels applies to host the 2030 UCI Road World Championships
The City of Brussels has applied to the International Cycling Union to organise the UCI Road World Championships in 2030. By so doing, for Belgium’s bicentennial, the country’s capital wishes to take on the role of the world capital of cycling.
With its application, and less than two years after the great success of the UCI Road World Championships in Leuven, Brussels is confirming its wish to have the cycling country of Belgium organise the World Championships for the eleventh time.
The choice of 2030 is no coincidence. It will be almost two hundred years since the Provisional Government declared Belgium’s independence. Organising one of the world’s greatest sports competitions will give Belgium’s greatest talents the chance to shine on their national roads. These World Championships in Brussels would thus join the ranks of the many events across the whole territory of Belgium that will celebrate our country’s bicentennial.
“With this great sporting momentum and our own Remco Evenepoel as current world champion, Brussels very naturally feels inspired to apply to organise the 2030 world championships,” said Philippe Close, Mayor of the City of Brussels.
“We think our candidacy is very strong, in particular because our country has an incredible knowledge in organising cycling events. We are recognised worldwide as the best organisers in the world. We saw that last week with the Tour of Flanders, and we will see it again with the Liège-Bastogne-Liège. We have very strong assets, and what we want to do is to bring the UCI Road World Championships back home, to Belgium,” said Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
“After the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2019 was an absolute success here in Brussels, we have given bicycles even more space in our streets. Ever more Brussels residents are convinced that the bicycle is the ideal means of getting around easily every day,” said Benoit Hellings, Alderman for Sport of the City of Brussels. “We are ready to welcome both everyday cyclists and the future world champions, and as the capital of the number one country of cycling, we want to bear the title of World Capital of Cycling proudly,” Benoit Hellings added.
“Ten days after the victories of Tadej Pogacar and Lotte Kopecky in an exceptional Tour of Flanders, this is the ideal timing to present our candidacy for the 2030 UCI Road World Championships in Brussels. The idea was born in the days before the 2021 world championships in Leuven and I am delighted that the mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close, embraced it immediately. Brussels will be the centre of these championships, but we want to focus on the cycling culture in North and South, showing ourselves once again as the most cycling-loving region in the world,” said Wouter Vandenhaute, President of Flanders Classics.
“The start of the Tour de France in Brussels in 2019 was a real success for our capital: 17% extra international overnight stays in the city, and 20% of Brussels residents were to be found along the course cheering on our world-class cyclists. Brussels residents and visitors alike were very positive about their experience: 75% satisfaction and 84% want more such events in the city. This is why we now also want to bring the 2030 World Championships to Brussels. “We are creating a positive impact on the economy, image and tourism in our European capital,” said Sven Gatz, Brussels Minister of Finance and Budget, responsible for the Image of Brussels.
“With great enthusiasm, Belgian Cycling welcomes this wonderful candidacy and therefore fully supports ‘Brussels 2030’ for the UCI. Cycling is in the DNA of the Belgians, and there is thus no better way to celebrate our country’s 200th anniversary than with world championships in the heart of our country, Brussels,” said Tom Van Damme, President of Belgian Cycling. “Also, this constitutes a huge boost for Youth Cycling in all parts of our country: for our young talents, this is an unheard-of motivation to give it their best in the years to come.”
The International Cycling Union is expected to announce the host countries for the 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions during the UCI Road World Championships that will take place in Glasgow in August 2023.
