"He brought time trials back to life in our country" - Serge Pauwels credits Victor Campenaerts for ITT boom in Belgium

For the last two years, Remco Evenepoel has taken home a time trial World Championship title home to Belgium in the individual time trial. One of just many capable Belgian time triallists in the modern peloton though, Evenepoel and the rest of the ITT success can be called back to Victor Campenaerts according to Serge Pauwels.

"The success here is a big part of Victor Campenaerts' legacy. He made time trials his own and made sure that many riders followed in his wake and took control of the discipline. He deserves a lot of credit," says former Team Sky rider Pauwels in conversation with Sporza. "He brought time trials back to life in our country. And it is thanks to magnets like Wout van Aert, Lotte Kopecky and Remco Evenepoel that this momentum remains alive. The best example: the juniors had the chance to sit at the table with Evenepoel here in Zurich, which is very inspiring for them. Remco also likes to pass on his advice. It's nice to see that cross-pollination in the national team."

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During his time, Campenaerts has claimed seven time trial victories including a pair of Belgian national championship titles and a duo European titles. Arguably though, the biggest success of Campenaerts in his races against the clock was when he claimed the hour record. 

"That was very popular in Belgium," Campenaerts recalls fondly. "I don't know if you know this, but more people watched the hour record than "Thuis". And that's a reasonable reference in Belgium, isn't it? Suddenly everyone knew what the hour record was. I even thought I was more popular than Tom Boonen for a week."

More than just Campenaerts though, the structure of Belgian Cycling also deserves credit according to Pauwels. "At a young age, it is not obvious to have such an expensive time trial bike, especially because they do not always use it as much as youngsters. But for a few years now, our development teams have succeeded in giving their youngsters a time trial bike. They are also always equipped with a power meter so that they can work in a targeted manner right away. In the past, time trials were rarely included in the training of the youth, but now you see that they provide a few hours to specialize," the ex-pro concludes. "We are now reaping the benefits of that structure. It is already nice to see that it has quietly crept into our cycling culture, because that was not the case at all in the past. That turnaround will never change again."

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