Legendary Johan Museeuw (59) steps out of retirement to race alongside Tom Pidcock, Valtteri Bottas and more at 2025 Gravel World Championships

The Belgian cycling legend Johan Museeuw is set to make a sensational return to racing this weekend as the 59-year-old icon lines up at the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships. Nearly two decades on from his retirement, the “Lion of Flanders” will roll out alongside some of the biggest names in modern cycling — proving that the competitive fire never truly fades.

The Gravel Worlds have carved out a unique place on the calendar, bringing together professionals and amateurs in the same event. Unlike traditional road or MTB Worlds, the competition features both elite and age-group categories, giving qualified riders of all levels a shot at their own rainbow stripes. Museeuw will contest the 60–64 age bracket, which boasts a remarkable 157-strong field — a sign of how seriously riders across the spectrum are taking this rapidly growing discipline.

The roads of Limburg are steeped in personal history for the 59-year-old Belgian. He famously won the Amstel Gold Race there in 1994 at the height of a glittering career. Museeuw remains one of the sport’s defining classics riders, with three victories apiece at the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix, along with a world title in 1996. More than 70 professional wins later, his mud-spattered celebration in Roubaix — pointing to his reconstructed knee — endures as one of cycling’s most iconic images.

While he stepped away from the professional peloton in the mid-2000s, Museeuw never truly left the sport. He’s remained involved through equipment design, mentoring roles and regular appearances at gran fondos and charity rides. Gravel, with its mix of competitive grit and adventure, has become an increasingly popular way for retired pros to reconnect with racing — and Museeuw is the latest to be drawn in.

He won’t be the only familiar face on the start line. Alongside elite contenders like Tom Pidcock, Matej Mohoric, Marianne Vos and Kasia Niewiadoma, the amateur ranks will feature a host of retired World Tour stars including Alejandro Valverde, Greg Van Avermaet and Romain Bardet. Even Finnish fast man Valtteri Bottas, better known for his exploits on four wheels than two, is set to take the gravel start.

Museeuw’s entry may not shift the elite favourites’ odds, but his presence lends this year’s Gravel Worlds a deeper layer of history — a bridge between cycling’s golden era and its fast-evolving gravel future.