The Vandal meets Belgian Cycling

Last year around this time we were contacted by Belgian Cycling. They were pleasantly surprised by our work and the rest of our collection. We quickly agreed to sit down together and explore the possibilities of a collaboration. A few meetings later, that collaboration became a reality. So we are extremely proud that even before the start of the World Cup in Yorkshire, we worked out several designs and were able to offer them to Belgian Cycling fans.

The Classics will be a permanent running collection with timeless designs in T-shirt, polo, sweater and hoody. In addition, we also built on an idea from our new friends at Belgian Cycling, namely the snapback and trucker caps with "Ride like a Belgian" lettering. As Belgian Cycling fans, we know better than anyone what that means! Specifically for the World Cup in Yorkshire, we made the limited design, "Brave Little Belgium" in which we incorporated the 6 latest winners and their Belgian cycling jerseys. Starting with Freddy Maertens, over Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen to the last Belgian in the rainbow colors Philippe Gilbert. In the future, a temporary print will be issued at special sporting events. Think of the Olympics, the cyclocross World Cup and the cycling World Cup in Flanders in 2021.

After the official launch, we sent all selected pros, both men and women, a shirt from the new collection. Freddy Maertens, Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen also received a Brave Little Belgium shirt. Call it a posthumous tribute to their achievement of yesteryear.

After the launch, we were invited by Belgian Cycling to the World Cup. Of course, we didn't miss such an opportunity. On Friday we arrived before the start of the Junior Ladies in Harrogate and were able to witness how Julie De Wilde won a silver medal. Afterwards in the Belgian House, we were able to personally congratulate her and present her with a Ride like a Belgian snapback. That was more than deserved!

Unfortunately, no more medals were taken by the Belgians during the following World Cup days in Harrogate. As for the why and how, there have already been plenty of talk shows, podcasts and newspaper articles flowing so nothing more about that. As far as we are concerned, on Sunday every rider was a hero "tout-court." We had to experience the weather conditions first hand and believe us, they were no joke. So much rain and cold wind, it does something to a body, top sportsman or not. The Brave Little Belgium shirts were certainly justified.