Wannes Heems' last race took place on the 19th of March, 2021. He finished in the far back bunch of the pack in Palala Climbs, which was held in Swaziland. The mediocre Belgian climber had a big smile on his face. It only was the second time in his career he could ride in this country and the weather was nice. His time as an active cyclist had come to an end, but he is eager to return as a valuable climbing coach for the team De Bitterballetjes.
Little Wannes Heems was born in Teuven. It is a small village in Limburg, which is a province in Belgium. He loved to cycle as a kid everywhere in the village, but already loved beautiful scenery. He often trained on a local hill, called Bovenste Bosch. That hill starts with the castle of Sinnick and ends with another castle, the one of Beus Dael.
It was wava from Sons of the Desert who gave Heems his first real racing opportunities, alre...
Read moreWannes Heems' last race took place on the 19th of March, 2021. He finished in the far back bunch of the pack in Palala Climbs, which was held in Swaziland. The mediocre Belgian climber had a big smile on his face. It only was the second time in his career he could ride in this country and the weather was nice. His time as an active cyclist had come to an end, but he is eager to return as a valuable climbing coach for the team De Bitterballetjes.
Little Wannes Heems was born in Teuven. It is a small village in Limburg, which is a province in Belgium. He loved to cycle as a kid everywhere in the village, but already loved beautiful scenery. He often trained on a local hill, called Bovenste Bosch. That hill starts with the castle of Sinnick and ends with another castle, the one of Beus Dael.
It was wava from Sons of the Desert who gave Heems his first real racing opportunities, already being 24 years of age, back then in season 44. Wannes Heems had to wait 5 seasons to get a first notable result, but season 50 will be remembered as his best season with two wins and three other top-9 notifications, all in third division. But the decent climber was mainly used as a teammate, because his hunger for captaincy wasn't just his major motivation to race.
Wannes Heems loved and still loves to travel. He rode races in 59 different countries. He could often been seen in the USA (20 races), Norway (17 races) and France (15 races). Sons of the Desert released him on the 19th of Octobre 2020, despite reaching still 2 notable results. De Bitterballetjes picked him up from the hirelist. He wanted to participate in some last races in his career in countries where he hadn't been before. So he was given a last few participations in Swaziland, Malawi, Cuba, Panama and Georgia.
Thanks to his good earnings as a loyal member of Sons of the Desert and De Bitterballetjes, Wannes Heems now lives in Zierikzee. That small village is a small hotspot in Zeeland (The Netherlands) and it's particularly kwown for it's long bridge. Wannes Heems weirdly enough never raced in The Netherlands and now enjoys the beautiful landscapes of lots of water, long roads and green meadows. And it is not to far from Belgium where he will love to educate new Belgian climbing talents.
Belgium