Organisers of the Koppenbergcross announced the women's race on Monday will be renamed the Grand Prix Jolien Verschueren in honour of the Belgian racer who died of cancer in July. Verschueren won the Koppenbergcross in 2015 and 2016.
"If she needs to be remembered somewhere, it's here," organiser Erwin Vervecken said according to Wielerflits. "We'll make it a nice tribute."
Verschueren learned she had a brain tumour in 2015 after routine scans following a crash and she raced with the condition for her most successful seasons without treatment. However, the condition developed and required surgery several years later.
She continued to combine racing with her career as a schoolteacher up until last year when the Koppenbergcross was her final race.
The Koppenbergcross in Oudenaard on November 1 is the opening round of the 2021-2022 X2O Badkamers Trofee series, with subsequent races in the series in Kortrijk on November 27, Loenhout on December 31, Baal on January 1, Herentals and Hamme on January 5 and 22 and the last two rounds in Lille and Brussels in February.
