Sven Van Torenhout, Belgium's new national road coach (and cyclo-cross coach), says the future of Belgian cycling is bright thanks to Jumbo-Visma's Wout Van Aert and Remco Evenpool (Deceuninck-QuickStep). However, he is not looking forward to the day when veterans like Greg Van Avermaat (CCC Team) and Philippe Gilbert (Lotto-Soudal) will no longer be representing Belgium.

Vanthourenhout participated in the Kortrijk round of the X²O Badkamers Trofee cyclocross series on Saturday, catching up with his riders.

"There are a lot of riders who don't need to be taught to win races anymore, but one of my strengths is that I can tell a lot about how they are doing without them telling me much," Vandhrenhout told Sporza on Wednesday.

"Are the riders happy or do they have something on their minds? I try to be there for them when it's easy to forget, when a rider is going through a tough time, for example, including when it has nothing to do with the sport," he continued. 'That may not be in my job description, but it's important.'

Vanhollenhout will now have to juggle his existing expertise in cyclocross with his new duties as a national road coach as the world cyclocross and road championship season heads to Belgium.

"It's pretty sandwiched," he admitted, but riders like Van Aert are expected to perform well in both events, and both he and road's Evenpoel will have to shoulder a lot of pressure in their home country.

"You could say that, but the puzzle [of the selected players] also has to be right," Van Hollenhout said. 'But there is more than just Van Aert and Evenpool on the national team. The riders beside them are probably even more important and it would be great to see their performances as well."

Among them are 2019 Paris-Roubaix winner Gilbert and Olympic road race champion Van Avermaat, who will soon be approaching the later years of their careers, but they are still part of Van Hollenhout's plans for now.

"There is a generation that must disappoint in one, two, three, or four years, such as Greg Van Avermaet and Philippe Gilbert, to name a few, if we dare. Because those conversations are never easy."

But already Vanthourenhout plans to build a national team around Van Aert and Evenpoel, especially Van Aert, a former road rider who also rode for teams like Quick Step Davitamon and Domopharm Fritz. The 39-year-old national selector, a professional cyclo-cross rider, impressed.

"Wout has become a great gentleman on and off the bike. He handles everything really well, and his injuries play a part in that," Van Hollenhout said, noting that Van Aert crashed in the 2019 Tour de France, injuring his thigh and not racing for six months while he recovered.

"He started from scratch and that made him realize that there is more to life than cycling, and that has really helped him. He works hard and is very conscientious." Will he listen to me? He doesn't have to."

Van Hollenhout also recalled a story from when he was still a rider and Van Aat was trying to start his career as a cross rider.

"Wout probably doesn't remember this, but he once sat next to me on a plane when I was still a rider and he was still riding for the Telenet team led by Hans van Castelen. At the time he was in his first year as a rider under 23.

"When we got off the plane, I said, 'He's going to be special. When I got off the plane, I said, 'He's going to be special. It's something you don't see very often with a player like Lemko Evenpole. [His team, the people around him, as a rider and as a person: ...... I hope for his sake that everything stays as it is going forward."