There are more than enough legends from the land tucked between Holland, Germany and France, although many feel the domination is nearly over. Belgian riders lead in just about every aspect of the sport, most of the top ten all time winners in Grand Prix Motocross are Belgian, with just Torsten Hallman and Antonio Cairoli stopping a complete whitewash of Belgian riders in the all time top ten list.

For today’s Belgian riders it will be nearly impossible to join that select group of the immortals. Recent success story Clement Desalle, and experienced riders like Kevin Strijbos, and Ken De Dycker have a lot of work to do to even get close to our previously mentioned list, and it will be nearly impossible to get on level terms with their more famous countrymen.

There is one man though who with a little luck, and a few more years on the scene can became a legend, be known for more than just the guy who was in the right place at the right time. That rider is Steve Ramon.

Now 29 years old and turning 30 on December 29 Ramon will enter the 2010 season as a veteran of the sport, in fact if Josh Coppins decided to retire from Grand Prix Motocross Ramon will be the oldest rider on the GP scene.

Ramon might not the best most exciting rider to watch, and he was considered pretty lucky to win his two World Motocross titles.

The blonde Belgian won the 2003 MX2 title after Stefan Everts missed the first few rounds of the series and still nearly pulled back the points lead of Ramon, and then four years later in 2007 Ramon got lucky while trailing Josh Coppins by more than 100 points when the New Zealand crashed out of the championship when his bike malfunctioned.

With two World titles to his name Ramon is close to being called a legend and what stands Ramon head and shoulders above most of his rivals is his consistency.

Since 2001 when he finished second in the World MX2 Championship he has been inside the top three on six occasions, second in 2002, first in 2003, third in 2006, first in 2007 and second in 2008.

The other two occasions he finished fourth in 2004 and 2005. Only a serious back injury this year kept him from continuing his amazing run of top five results.

At the Grand Prix of Valkenswaard earlier in the year Ramon crashed and came out with a broken neck. While the injury could have ended his career he lucked out and missed several rounds of the 2009 championship.

Back in action we had to catch up with the two times World Motocross Champion.

Q: Steve, you spend a long time away from the sport with your neck injury, can you give us a quick rundown on what happened in your crash and recovery.

Ramon: I crashed and of course it was the first moto and I had a little pain and everything was stiff, but I wanted to ride the second moto because of the championship and everything was going good at that moment. It was a decision I made then, but of course it was dangerous to do that, but I didn't know that then. I made many times big crashes, crashes were I had more pain than that, so I rode. I took some pain killers, but I knew there was something wrong. I went for a checkup, even when it isn't that bad, I just like to know that my body is okay. I did some scans and x-rays. I went to my local hospital, and he could see there was something wrong, but their scan didn't work, so I went to another hospital and took a scan and they told me that my neck was broken, and I was like, what do you mean.

Q: That must have been a big shock for you. How did you react to that news?

Ramon: First I thought, shit, I am going to be out for the next Grand Prix. So I went back to my doctor and he said you are lucky you are not in a wheelchair. Then I panicked a little and thought I shouldn't move my neck, I didn't want to do anything. I went home and was really careful. I just sat down and hardly moved. In the evening I was laying in my bed and I was scared to move, scared to do something wrong. My doctor told me that it still can move and if it moves we need to do surgery. I had a neck brace for day and night, but the first days were difficult because I knew it was bad and my season was over. All the work I had done in the off-season, but okay, that is part of the sport. It was the first time in many years I missed a season. The only time I missed a season was in 2000 when I had a knee operation.

Q: I was looking through your statistics and you haven’t missed a top four in nearly ten years. That must have made your recovery even worse.

Ramon: The last eight years I haven't been outside the top four. I mean I am consistent. I didn't look at the other guys, but I guess I am one of the most consistent. I hardly had a bad season in the last 10 years, so I am really proud of that, but it also made it difficult this year, because I am not used to sitting on the sidelines and recovering from an injury. The last years have been good for me, World Champion, vice Champion, third places, it's been good.

Q: Changing the subject, many people complain about the present Belgian riders, even former greats like Eric Geboers and Joel Smets have mentioned that you guys are not hungry enough. Does that bother you?

Ramon: I don't worry about people’s opinion and sometimes it is true that I don't take risks, but still at the end of the championship I am always there. I haven't received the same type of criticism from Eric Geboers or Joel Smets like Ken De Dycker has gotten. Of course Eric sometimes says things on television, sometimes talking about the Belgian riders of today, I expect us to be World Champions, and if things are not going so well, he tells people about our problems, which isn't so great, but I understand it. They (Teka Suzuki) want results.

Q: Clement Desalle has arrived and really taken over as the best Belgian rider at the moment. What is your opinion of Desalle?

Ramon: This year Desalle has been good, he has self confidence also, but everything he does is good at the moment. He has no pressure from the team maybe that will change when he gets into a factory team, how he will deal with the pressure. I have never had a problem with him, but you know if you battle with him he won’t back down and won’t shut off the throttle and you have to be careful of that, but I personally haven’t had a problem with him.

Q: And you are not getting any younger.

Ramon: I am nearly the oldest guy; I mean I think Josh is the only one older than me. I know that time is going quickly and I don’t have that many years left. I know that, and I start to think about that sometimes. I had some good years, I am happy with the results I achieved and I am lucky with that. I mean riders like Ken (De Dycker) and some others, they are riding good now, but not too many of them have a World title, or have finished as consistent as me, they need to start achieving that.

Q: You haven’t had many injuries and your style doesn’t seem to take much energy, that might make your career last longer. What do you think?

Ramon: I think my style is smooth, I haven’t had injuries, and I can ride as long as I am motivated to ride. Of course I want to continue, that was the thing when I was injured. I was thinking shit, I can’t ride anymore, and it’s maybe over. I was thinking what I shall do if I am finished with Motocross. I didn’t think it long, but it was the first time I seriously thought that.

Q: Can a rider like you, a rider who has been a factory rider for several years make enough to retire and not have to work?

Ramon: You know last year I was sometimes thinking, what shall I do when I quite Motocross, but it wasn’t that serious, I didn’t expect to stop soon. I haven’t made enough to stop working; it isn’t like that at all. I will have to work when I stop racing. I have it good at the moment, but I had some good years in factory teams and made some good money, but not enough to stop working, no way. I have no idea what I could do when I stop.

Q: I know Josh Coppins told me he got a little confused when he started thinking about stopping and it affected his riding and results.

Ramon: From now and while I was recovering I changed the button in my mind and just wanted to ride and go for it again. At the moment I just want to race and enjoy my riding and go for another championship. Once you start thinking about stopping and your riding isn’t like it once was, then it starts to go difficult. I know what I can do and I think I can still do well in the sport.

Q: With Cairoli around and Desalle improving like he is, it’s not going to be easy to win another World title is it?

Ramon: Sure it will be hard, but it is always hard to win a Championship. At the moment I don’t think Cairoli is much better than me, and he is a really talented rider, some tracks he is good, also in the sand. He is also consistent, so he is hard to beat, but I need to stay motivated and I want to win another World Championship, which is my end goal every year I go out.