Belgium Kermesses 2026

Two Weeks in Belgium: Racing, Learning & Developing

After wrapping up the Watersley Challenge UCI 2.1 in the Netherlands, the PNW Racing Europe Project headed to Belgium for the final two weeks of our European block. The team stayed together, trained together and lined up for six Belgium junior kermesses over two weeks, including races in Gistel, Denderbelle, Dadizele, Heestert and Jesseren-Borgloon.

For developing junior riders, there are few experiences quite like Belgium kermesse racing. The racing is fast, aggressive and tactical, with riders constantly fighting for position, responding to attacks and looking for opportunities to get into the break. It teaches race craft that is difficult to replicate in training and our riders embraced it.

Throughout the two weeks, PNW riders were getting into breaks, animating races and competing for results in strong Belgium junior fields. We came away with podiums, top-10s and top-20s, but more importantly, a lot of valuable racing experience.
It wasn't all smooth sailing. There were crashes, thankfully resulting mostly in lost skin, road rash and bruising, as well as some sickness along the way. Combined with weeks of travel, training and racing, the accumulated fatigue made the final stretch challenging. But that's also part of the experience.

Learning to recover, look after yourself, work together as a team and show up ready to race again a few days later is an important part of developing as a cyclist.

From Watersley to the Belgium kermesses, the Europe Project gave our riders the opportunity to experience a completely different level and style of racing while living and travelling together as a team.

A huge thank you to Dave, John and Ellie for supporting the project and keeping everything moving behind the scenes. Projects like this simply don't happen without dedicated people willing to give their time to support our riders.

We also want to extend a huge thank you to all of our PNW Racing sponsors and partners who continue to believe in what we're building and help create these opportunities for our riders. A special thank you to Bridge the Gap, who partnered with us specifically for our 2026 Europe Project. Their support helped make it possible for our Canadian junior riders to spend this important block racing and developing in Europe.

Providing young Canadian riders with opportunities to experience international racing is at the heart of what PNW Racing is about, and we couldn't do it without the organizations and people who choose to support the pathway.

Six kermesses. Two weeks in Belgium. Plenty of racing, a few battle scars and a whole lot of learning.
That's a wrap on another PNW Racing Europe Project. 🇨🇦