The launch of the cycling club Vélo Club d’Ath in 1974
In 1974 Francis Boitte launched a cycling cup, named Vélo Club d’Ath. The goal of this club was simple: introduce the youth of the region to cycling, give them the opportunity to measure themselves with others, to learn riding in a peloton, … The young riders got a taste of the sport during the famous kermesse races, the typical Belgian cycling races in which the peloton rides around in circles around the church towers in a festive atmosphere.
“The team was launched with limited resources, like a provincial structure.”
The foundations of the project which would grow into a fixed value in the World Tour were laid.
