From 19 to 23 August 2026, the municipality of Heusden-Zolder, in the province of Limburg, Belgium, will host the world's best young track cyclists at the 2026 UCI Junior Track World Championships. Events like these are one reason the town has held the UCI Bike City label since 2017, awarded to hosts that pair major cycling events with demonstrable investment in everyday riding. That grassroots commitment is what defines Heusden-Zolder, from its protected bike lanes to the cycling lessons run in local schools.
Cycling for everyone
Heusden-Zolder's cycling policy rests on three main pillars: supporting community sport and investing in bike safety, weaving cycling into local tourism, and promoting it as an everyday way to get around. In recent years, three projects have improved the town's bike lanes and cycle junctions. More are planned, including new protected lanes, a levelled cycle highway and e-bike charging points beside popular routes and cycling cafes.
Emphasis has also been placed on building the next generation of cyclists. Local schools, in partnership with the police, run cycling lessons and road-safety exams, along with bike-mechanics training for older pupils. The UCI Junior Track World Championships bring their own opportunities: following the racing, the municipality will run a cycling camp for children focused on track and BMX Racing, and throughout the event it will offer 200 free tickets a day to local residents, introducing a home crowd to a discipline still relatively new to the area.
Speaking on the impact of these events, Mayor Mario Borremans said: "With these events on the calendar, there is no denying that Heusden-Zolder has more than earned its status as a top-tier sports municipality. Thanks to both existing and new sports facilities, we continue to grow into a destination where local and international talent can truly indulge their passion for sport. At the same time, it offers an opportunity to discover our municipality from a different perspective. It will quickly become clear that Heusden-Zolder leaves a lasting impression."
Beyond the event, the town is investing in the long term. Through a new agreement with Circuit Zolder that will run to 2030, some 2,200 primary schoolchildren across 12 schools will receive bike-handling lessons on the former motorsports racetrack.
A circuit reborn
Nowhere is Heusden-Zolder's cycling transformation clearer than at Circuit Zolder. Once reserved for cars and motorbikes, it has turned increasingly towards cycling, and at its heart now sits the Sport Vlaanderen Heusden-Zolder Velodrome. The 250-metre wooden track opened in 2023 and, in only its second year, hosted the 2025 UEC Track Elite European Championships, before being awarded the 2026 UCI Junior Track World Championships.
The velodrome grew from the long-held dream of Belgian former professional cyclist Marc Wauters to bring top-level racing to Limburg, and is only the second UCI-approved velodrome in Flanders, after the Eddy Merckx track in Ghent. It was built with sustainability in mind, too: its timber facade, for instance, is designed to be dismantled and reused.
Circuit Zolder's cycling calendar reaches well beyond the 2026 UCI Junior Track World Championships. The venue held rounds of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup from 2008 to 2019, as well as the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in both 2002 and 2016. Its BMX track has proved just as busy, staging the UCI BMX World Championships in 2015 and 2019, and is set to host them once more in 2029. Away from the elite events, the circuit opens to the public through Avondfietsen, where people can ride the track three times a week, 50 weeks a year, and it plays host to mass-participation events such as the 24 Hours of Cycling.