"I told national coach to not select me": Retiring Belgian CX rider doesn't ask for pittance nomination

There was a time when Laura Verdonschot appeared to by well on the way to break the Dutch monopoly on women's cyclocross medals, but the 5th lady of 2024 World Championships instead quietly disappeared from the fans' radar in the coming seasons, and the 2025/26 winter will be the last for Verdonschot who, at the age of 29, bids farewell to a career characterized by unfulfileld potential as health robbed the Belgian promise of her best years as well as a signature victory.

The Belgian most recently competed in the National Championships where she chose to pull out of the race as early as after just three laps. The former multiple-time runner-up quickly found herself far off the front of the race, or even a top-10 result. In short, the feeling is not improving, and the leader of De Ceuster - Bouwpunt doesn't see a way out anymore.

She would normally still earn herself a nomination for the World Championships at the end of January, and the Belgian coach Angelo De Clercq would be more than happy to bring one of the most prominent cyclocrossers of his country for one last "farewell race", but Verdonschot refused.

"After the Belgian Championships, I contacted Angelo to tell him he didn't have to select me," she told Het Nieuwsblad. "He was planning to do that, to give me a proper farewell."

The 2025/26 cyclocross season is still in full swing, and Verdonschot herself has responsibilities to fulfill towards her team. Although it'd make sense for her to stop already, the 29-year-old will proceed with her next races as planned, before hanging the bike up for good.

"I still need to discuss that with the team. I'll definitely do Benidorm (the next World Cup race, ed.) because that training camp was already booked. I'd also like to do Lille and Oostmalle, because those races are in my backyard," she concluded.