Kenny Belaey

Kenny Belaey
Kenny Belaey at Sportief Gent 2010
Personal information
Full name Kenny Guillaume Leda Belaey
Nickname The Magician
Born (1983-01-26) 26 January 1983
Eeklo, Belgium
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 79 kg (174 lb)
Team information
Discipline Mountain bike — Trials
Role Rider
Major wins

Kenny Belaey is a Belgian Trialbiker, riding for over 25 years now. During those years he crowned himself to UCI medals record holder and many more... Thanks to his titles, professionalism, style and ability to interact with the crowd Belaey is one of the biggest names in the bike trials world scene. The Belgian has been at the cutting edge of his sport for more than 25 years now, achieving his first 26 inch UCI Elite crown in 2002 and has been on the podium 20 times at a total of 22 World championship participations, a World record.

History

Belaey started in competition in 1992, inspired by his dad Ronny who was a motorcycle trialist. Hard work, athletic skills and fierce natural talent started to pay off soon. In 1996 he made his international debut in Spa-Francorchamps coming home fifth. Another two year later (1998) he claimed his first cadet world champion title. He wrote history in 2000 when he won the Junior Worlds in both 20” and 26”. Kenny continued to make a name for himself by dominating the 2005 and 2006 seasons, taking back-to-back world titles. He even made it a "triple" in 2005 racking up the World, European and World Cup overall titles. His ability to clear seemingly impossible obstacles and pull off amazing saves has earned him the nickname "The Magician". Since 2012 he also rides on enduro mountainbikes, a great way to explore the world and new places.

Titles

  • UCI Cadet World Champion: 1998[1]
  • BIU Cadet World Champion: 1999[2]
  • Junior World Champion: 2000 (20" & 26" on same day), 2001[1]
  • Junior European Champion: 2000
  • Elite World Champion: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010[1]
  • Elite World Cup Winner: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009
  • Elite European Champion: 2005, 2006, 2011

For the sport

More than anyone he’s pushing to help developing the sport and reaching a more mainstream audience. Early on in 2009 Belaey has set off on a five-week global trek crossing from Spain to England, Cleveland, California and Hawaii in the US. His encounters with biking legends places and athletes influencing the sport will be the backbone of a forthcoming TV series to be aired on the ‘Extreme Sports Channel’. Featured sporting celebrities include: Toni Bou (moto trials star), Dave Mirra (X-games BMX legend), Hans Rey and Ot Pi (bike trials pioneers), Danny Macaskill (Scottish street riding ace) and many more. In 2011 the 4th and 5th episode went on air for Belgian TV and the Extreme Sportschannel, showcasing his adventures during a road trip through South Africa. In 2011 he also decided to organise the UCI world cup rounds in Belgium, having the biggest media outcome in the history of the sport with live international TV coverage... From 2012 onwards after a wrist injury he realised how fragile it all is and decided to even work harder than before and came back stronger than ever. He started focussing more on big projects in the USA and is now riding shows at events such as the NBA games, rode over a slackline in the French Alps which reached over 400 million people worldwide and manages his European Action sports road show with the Pedal to the Medal crew, supported by leading brands such as Red Bull, Adidas and Volkswagen reaching thousands of people every year. Because a sports career is fragile and short Kenny is always searching for long term projects which all form the Belaey brand. The Casa Belaey real estate program is another example of that, these houses are designed and built in the South of Spain to go and train with biker colleague and to rent out to other sports enthusiasts who want to train in the sun. In 2017 he got re elected by his fellow riders for another 4 year position at the UCI Trials commission, his 3rd election since 2005; mission is to further develop mountainbike trials globally.

Facts

  • named after American motorcycle legend Kenny Roberts
  • became the first ever UCI professional bike trials rider in 2003 with the ‘Topsport Vlaanderen’ cyclingteam
  • cites Belgian trials legend Thierry Klinkenberg (his first trainer) among his big influences together with Hans Rey, Cesar Canas and Ot Pi
  • his younger brother Wesley is also a world class bike trials rider
  • father Ronny is one of the best trials competition site builders
  • has performed in over 25 countries: Belgium, France, USA, Poland, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, UK, Holland, Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Hong-Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Oman, Pakistan, Maldives, South Africa, Ghana and Ivory Coast.
  • made two trial-focused videos: Zero Tolerance and The Ambassadors
  • he likes all forms of bicycle racing, but even in the off season he's known to take MTB holidays. He went to Mali in winter 2008 for an adventurous experience
  • on 21 September 2009 he sharpened his Guinness world record for most 180° rotations in a minute (35)
  • Is the UCI riders representative and has introduced some big changes the past 3 years
  • Has appeared in several national & international TV shows
  • First trials rider who was nominated for Belgian Sportsman of the year (top 10). Belgian cyclist Tom Boonen mentioned his name among top 3...
  • First rider who managed to have his own TV show on the Extreme sportschannel reaching 55 countries and over 23 million households.

PROFILE Kenny Belaey

Bike : Hope HB160 / Clean Trials

Varia Sponsors : Red Bull, Adidas TERREX, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Hope Technology, Continental Tyres, Garmin, WD-40, Adidas Sporteyewear, Sapim, Qoleum and Lazer helmets. Trial since: 1992 Competition debut: Leuven, Bierbeek

Career tally 2017: Bronze medal World Champs China / NBA shows / Land of the Bulls video / Kjerag Bolten Norway stunt 2016: Bronze medal World champs in Italy / NBA shows / release of the Pedal to the medal show with shows at WRC rally of Wales and Porto and many other prestigious events. 2015: BALANCE project: World first by riding over an 18m long slackline at 2700m altitude over a 112m gorge in the French Alps / Bronze medal at the World champs in Andorra / NBA shows 2014: Bronze medal World champs Norway, Silver medal European championships Poland, NBA shows 2013: NBA shows in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco / global TV appearances / TV commercial for Volkswagen cvi / Come Back of the year winning bronze after injury / Laureus ambassador nomination / Launch Tshirt merchandising 2012: Appearance in the Olympic Samsung TVcommercial feat. David Beckham / Big injury held him back for the rest of the season, still bringing home a bronze medal at the worlds. 2011: Appearance in the biggest global Adidas commercial ever. ALL IN / European champion / 2nd World cup overall / 2nd World championships / Volkswagen advert / Red Bull mobile advert. 2010: show for the prestigious Laureus awards reaching millions of viewers in 180countries/ WORLD CHAMPION/ European championship 2nd/ World cup 3rd 2009: World Cup overall winner / Bronze European championship / Silver Worlds 2008: World cup Barcelona winner, World Cup overall runner up (all in 26” class) 2007: World Cup overall winner, 3rd in Worlds, Belgian champion, world record ‘180° rotations’ (all in 26” class) 2006: World champion, European champion, Belgian champion (all in 26” class), 2005: World Champion, World Cup overall, European champion (all in 26” class), 2004: World Cup overall, 3rd in European championship (all in 26”class) 2004: world cup overall 2003: World Cup Overall, 3rd in Worlds, 2nd in Europeans (all 26”) 2002: World champ (26” class) 2001: Junior world champ & World Cup overall (20” klasse), 3rd in Junior Worlds & Belgian champ (26”) 2000: Junior world champ 26”, Junior World Champ 20”, European Junior Champ 26”, Belgian Elite 20” and 26” champion + world cup overall 1999: Cadet world champ 20”, Belgian elite Elite 20” champ 1998: Cadet world champ 20”, 3rd in European 26”, Belgian Junior champ 26”

Personal life

Belaey enjoys playing the guitar, listening to music, watching movies, fishing, and snowboarding.[3] He is married to Fien Lammertyn.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mountain Bike World Championships previous results". UCI. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Coope, Robin. "1999 World Biketrial Championship Results". Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Amer, Sameen. "Magic On Two Wheels – Kenny Belaey". Weekly Magazine. The News International. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  • - Official website
  • @belaeykenny - Official twitter
  • - Instagram
  • - Facebook fanpage
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