ProTeam Jasper De Buyst wins bronze in the European Track Championship points race

It had been since 2016 that he last competed in an international track cycling race. But nine years later, Jasper De Buyst (31) made a remarkable comeback. This evening, he secured bronze in the European Championship points race in Heusden-Zolder. "This means a lot to me," De Buyst said afterward. "It took a lot of courage to step into the unknown after all these years. I dreamed of a great result, but I had no idea if it was still within my reach. Admittedly, at first, I was overwhelmed by the speed, the jostling, and also the crowd, which was fantastic for me here. I quickly realized that the Portuguese winner was in a league of his own tonight. A fight for silver might have been possible, but in the end, I played it safe: I focused entirely on securing bronze rather than risking everything for silver and ending up with nothing."

De Buyst had previously won the Six Days of Ghent twice in a row and claimed bronze in the World Championship Madison event, but in the following years, his focus shifted entirely to road cycling. He recently rediscovered his love for track cycling after seeing his two-and-a-half-year-old son become wildly enthusiastic while watching track cyclists at 't Kuipke last November. Added to this was the asthma he developed after a COVID infection, which led him to train indoors during the winter. This, combined with his subsequent Belgian track title, brought all the pieces together, culminating in bronze at the European Championships as the cherry on top. "I'm not as fast as the 20-year-old version of myself, but I wanted to see how close I still am to the physical level required for this. That seems fine, as it turns out. I also wondered if I still had a place in this group. And that was also good. I'm definitely open to doing this more often again," he concluded.

Picture: PhotoNews