After a promising opening year in the junior ranks in 2021, Robbe continued his progression in 2022, where he picked up several strong results throughout the season. His campaign was unfortunately cut short after a training accident which saw him miss the final few months but nonetheless, the Belgian youngster’s fortitude shone through with his attitude, and he says that he has “mentally gotten stronger” because of it and learned a lot about himself.
Interestingly it is the “toughness and emotion” of the sport that Robbe really likes, knowing that it takes a lot of effort and determination to achieve something which in the end only makes the feeling sweeter when you reach that goal.
Not from a cycling family at all, Robbe got into cycling more through chance than anything else. Initially he was a runner, with a lot of success too, which included the Belgian title at his age level. Yet, after suffering from an injury he looked for another sport and naturally found cycling. He was already somewhat a fan of the sport, watching cyclocross with Sven Nys one of his early idols, who “crushed it in the mud.” From there, Robbe started following road racing as well as he began competing, mixing both disciplines himself and eventually moving up the ranks to where he is now.
Wide-eyed and excited for that next step, Robbe remains grounded and in his opening year simply wants to “make a better version of myself in this professional environment”, learning through his eyes and ears at races, taking on board as much information and advice that he can from his teammates, and the coaches and staff within the team.
Reflecting on who he is as a person, Robbe describes himself as motivated, humorous, and ambitious – all of which ties in with his goals as a cyclist. He states that you need to have the ambition and drive to achieve something, alongside the discipline, but that it is also important to find the fun in it all too.
Finding fun in something and showing that humoristic nature, Robbe revealed that his hidden talent was the ability to move his ears without touching them. When he’s not flexing his ear lobes then you can find Robbe hanging out with friends, catching up on any cycling action he has missed on TV, or mastering his tiramisu recipe.
