One day after the grueling Kester United Telecom Trophy round this might have looked like it would have been a relaxed day and sunny day out for the top guns of Belgian motocross. However… for starters there was a mountain bike ride.

Afterwards the riders had to do a relay (on foot, BMX or old bicycle) to get to the Mol kayak and canoe club. Once there the riders got a brief initiation in paddling and a match of kayak polo in which team manager Smets, Ramon, De Dycker, Strijbos, Van Horebeek, Priem and Roelants took part.

Breugelmans and Verbruggen weren’t there because of illness while Clément Desalle suffered from a minor injury after last Sundays ADAC Masters round in Aichwald. Afterwards the preselection had a nice barbecue in Smets garden as a nice end to the day.

Joël Smets will announce his definitive selection for the 62nd e Motorcross of Nations on Saturday august 2nd at the Belgian motocross GP in Lommel. Last year Ramon, De Dycker and Van Horebeek trooped the Belgian colors at Budds Creek, MD USA.

With a young team they ended up third behind the US and France.

Joël Smets on the selection day: “I think everybody left with a real good feeling today. Everything was pretty relaxed, however the MXON is definitely on their minds. It just shows in these tiny details. Everybody wants to be there. Today I saw a bunch of guys who, whatever it takes, want to defend the honor of their country.

"In fact that attitude is the base we need to build on. For team building I am always on the look out for something adventurous that has absolutely nothing to do with motocross at all. During a cycling outing with my family I spotted the local cano and kayak club.

“At the same time you need a day like this to hear the riders’ opinions. Look at what’s possible and what isn’t. Steve and Ken are almost certain to make it into the team. They both won a GP this year and are currently in the top five of the World MX1 standings.

"Things are a little different regarding the MX2 class. Steve is still able to be outstanding on an MX2 bike. But does he want that? We’ve talked about it and he just wanted to think it over. I don’t want to pick the riders in function of the track. They all know how to ride at Donington, just look at Clément Desalle who finished seventh in last year’s GP. It isn’t a real supercross track.”

Jeremy Van Horebeek’s take: “I had a real good time during the team building thing, the atmosphere was superb. It wasn’t your classic physical training but we could expect that from Joël. (laughs) And besides running around and kayaking and stuff all day was also tiring. This day was ideal to take your mind of motocross for a bit. I mean the guys didn’t even talk about motocross for half an hour! But such days should happen more often.”

NOTE: The Red Bull Motocross of Nations, or the World championship for national teams, has been the most important motocross event for decades now. More than 30 countries from all continents send their best motocross riders.

That’s why the MX Of Nations is often called “the olympics of motocross”. The Belgian team has won the MX of Nations 14 times and with 51 rostrum finishes Belgium has the highest number of podium finishes.

This year’s Red Bull Motocross of Nations takes place in Donington Park (near Nottingham) on september 27/28.

More info on the Belgian MX of Nations team: www.mxofnations.be