“We took part in the ‘World Championship Pancake Eating’... Victor put away 17” – How Campenaerts once ‘risked diabetes’ with insane eating challenge
Cycling
Victor Campenaerts has built a reputation in professional cycling for pushing limits. On the bike, that has meant Hour Record attempts, relentless breakaways and an engine that rarely seems to empty. Off it, apparently, it once meant devouring 17 pancakes in a single sitting.
The story surfaced via Tim Declercq on the Stamcafé Koers podcast, as he recounted the exploits of his riding group De Melkerie, which includes riders such as Yves Lampaert, Bert Van Lerberghe, Stijn Steels – and, crucially, Campenaerts.
“We took part in the ‘World Championship Pancake Eating’,” Declercq laughed as he retold the story. “But we stopped after two years, otherwise we would’ve developed diabetes.”
It started innocently enough. The group had discovered a café in Torhout offering unlimited pancakes and a coffee for €5.50. For most customers, that deal was safe. Three pancakes, maybe five at a push, and the owner would still come out ahead.
Professional cyclists, however, do not think like most customers.
Seventeen pancakes and counting
“In the beginning, it was Victor’s idea,” Declercq explained. “We said, ‘We’re going there.’”
The café owner had not factored in the caloric demands, or competitive instincts, of a group of elite endurance athletes. The pancakes were large, Declercq stressed, not dainty café portions. “Most people would eat three to five. With that, he could make his money back,” he said.
Campenaerts did not stop at five. “I think Victor put away seventeen or nineteen pancakes,” Declercq revealed. “Financially, it probably wasn’t the best day of that man’s life.”
The number alone is absurd. Even in a sport where riders routinely burn thousands of calories in a single training ride, seventeen full-sized pancakes in one sitting pushes into the realm of folklore.
Campenaerts is currently riding for Visma in Andalucia
Everything becomes competitive
The episode did not remain a one-off. A year later, the unofficial “World Championship Pancake Eating” was staged again. By then, the group had decided it might be wise not to return to the same café. “We didn’t dare go back,” Declercq admitted. The second edition was hosted at Van Lerberghe’s house, coinciding with his birthday.
And, true to cycling culture, it was no longer just about eating. It was about winning. “The first time I wasn’t that good,” Declercq said. “But the year after, I made the podium with fifteen. With us, everything has to be competitive.”
That line perhaps explains more than the pancake count itself. Campenaerts’ 17 – or possibly 19 – was not merely hunger. It was the same mentality that drives riders to chase marginal gains, repeat intervals deep into fatigue, or attack when logic suggests restraint.
For Declercq and his friends, the “World Championship” may have been tongue-in-cheek. But the instinct underneath it was not.
Campenaerts has long been known as one of the peloton’s most obsessive trainers, a rider willing to experiment, endure and stretch limits in pursuit of performance. In Torhout, that instinct simply found a different outlet.
The café owner might not have anticipated it. But anyone who has watched Campenaerts race probably should have.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
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