Remco Evenepoel's Olympic and World titles no longer earn bonus - Belgium takes measures against large bonus rewards

The idea of a budget cap has been discussed for a few years within the world of cycling. Whilst it is not exactly what's happening at the moment, the Belgian cycling association has taken the decision to eliminate bonuses given to riders who take medals in World, European Championships and Olympic Games amongst the rise in disciplines and titles given out.

The UCI could ultimately follow the same path, as reported by Sporza. The association's CEO Nathalia Clauwaert argued that "Between 2019 and 2023, the number of medals tripled. And therefore also the number of bonuses that we had to hand out" which is depleting the federation's financial resources. Remco Evenepoel's recent double Olympic title and then world time-trial title on the road is a good example; whilst the national recently also had three riders score medals in the men's and women's events at the Gravel World Championships - the large amount of events in the track also contributes heavily to the number.

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Belgium will certainly have the same happen now that the cyclocross season begins, and whilst having a country full of talented cyclists all round is a positive thing, it is putting extreme financial stress on the association. It is no surprise that several federations already struggle currently to serve their riders in the best way. Great Britain's total exclusion from the road European Championships is a good example, whilst it is also regular to see national teams appear at big events without the presence of the amount of riders they earn the right to have - Portugal being a good example.

"It is a measure that we have agreed internally with the riders and national coaches. We know that it is not a popular measure, but we could still count on their understanding," Clauwaert argues. "I also speak to fellow federations and they are having a hard time continuing to run their national programmes. There are various reasons for this. For example, there is an increase in the costs of hotel stays and flights. Wage costs have also increased and there is an internationalisation of the sport."

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