Nicky Degrendele (born 11 October 1996) is a Belgian professional track and

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

cyclist, who most recently rode for UCI Track Team . Most notably, she became world champion at the age of 21 in Women's Keirin at the

2018 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2018 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championships for track cycling in 2018. They took place in the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with ...

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen (Apeldoorn), Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo ...

. She formerly rode for the team; in October 2018 she joined .

Career

Degrendele practiced

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

until the age of 15 when, due to back problems, she made the switch to road race cycling. 3 races and a broken elbow later, she decided road racing was not for her. After her father took her to ride a couple laps on a track in

Ghent, Belgium Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

and attending initiation lessons in october/november 2011 organised by Cycling Vlaanderen, she made the switch to

track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its i ...

. Success came quickly to Degrendele after that, becoming Belgian Champion in the women's

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...

in February 2012. In September of that same year, she started at the Topsportschool in

as a boarding student. At her first international championship, the

2013 European Track Championships (under-23 & junior) The 2013 European Track Championships are the European Championships for track cycling. The junior and under 23 riders events took place at the Velódromo Nacional de Sangalhos in Anadia, Portugal from 9 to 14 July 2013. This year, the women' ...

Anadia, Portugal Anadia () is a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 29,150, in an area of 216.63 km2. It had 26,915 eligible voters. The city of Anadia is part of Arcos e Mogofores parish. The city itself had a population of 3,034 in 2001, ...

, she won 3 medals: silver in the women's

and

keirin – "racing track" – is a form of Motor-paced racing, motor-paced cycle racing in which track cycling, track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan ...

, and bronze in the women's

team sprint The team sprint (also sometimes known as the Olympic sprint) is a track cycling event. Despite its name, it is not a conventional cycling sprint event – it is a three-rider team time trial held over three laps of a velodrome. The riders use a ...

. A month later, in August 2013, at the

2013 UCI Juniors Track World Championships The 2013 UCI Juniors Track World Championships was the 10th annual Junior World Championship for track cycling held at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, Scotland from 7 to 11 August 2013. The Championships offered medals for a range of race ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, she won silver in the women's

. A year later, Degrendele won her first international title at the

2014 European Track Championships (under-23 & junior) The 2014 European Track Championships (under-23 & junior) were the 14th continental championships for European under-23 and junior track cyclists, and the 5th since the event was renamed following the reorganisation of European track cycling in ...

, again in

, winning gold in the women's

. She also win a silver in the women's

at the same championships. A couple weeks later, she repeated this performance at the

2014 UCI Juniors Track World Championships The 2014 UCI Juniors Track World Championships was the 11th annual Junior World Championship for track cycling held at the Gwangmyeong Speedom in Gwangmyeong, South Korea from 8 to 12 August 2014. Medals were won across 19 disciplines. Medal s ...

Gwangmyeong Gwangmyeong (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It borders Seoul to the east, north and northeast, Anyang, Gyeonggi, Anyang to the southeast, Siheung to the southwest, and Bucheon to the nort ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, becoming world champion in the women's

Keirin – "racing track" – is a form of Motor-paced racing, motor-paced cycle racing in which track cycling, track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan ...

and finishing 3rd in the women's

. In 2016, the 20 years old Degrendele won silver in the Keirin at both the under-23

European Track Championships The European Track Cycling Championships are a set of elite level competition events held annually for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling, exclusively for European cyclists, and regulated by the European Cycling Union (UEC) ...

and the

2016 UEC European Track Championships The 2016 UEC European Track Championships was the seventh edition of the elite UEC European Track Championships in track cycling and took place at the Velodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, between 19 and 23 ...

for seniors. 2018 saw Degrendele win her first (and so far only) senior world championship title, winning the gold in the Keirin at the

, The Netherlands. Later that year, she took another silver in the Keirin at the

2018 UEC European Track Championships The 2018 UEC European Track Championships was the ninth edition of the elite UEC European Track Championships in track cycling and took place at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, Scotland, between 2 and 7 August 2018. The event was organis ...

, Scotland. The year ended however on a low point when she crashed hard in November during the French leg of the

2018–19 UCI Track Cycling World Cup The 2018–19 UCI Track Cycling World Cup (also known as the Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a multi-race tournament over a track cycling season. It was the 27th series of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup organised b ...

in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines that caused her severe headaches, balance and concentration problems every day for two and a half months. Having become world champion Keirin in 2018, what followed were years of mostly disappointments, highlighted by a failure to qualify for the

2020 Summer Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan. 4 years later, she did qualify for the women's

and

events at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. At the Olympics, she failed to qualify for the A final in the women's keirin competition, having suffered a bad crash in the quarter-finals, and finished 5th in the B Final and 11th overall. Due to her injuries in that crash in the keirin competition, she did not partake in the women's

competition. Early February of 2025, on the first night of the

2025 UEC European Track Championships The 2025 UEC European Track Championships was the fifteenth edition of the elite UEC European Track Championships in track cycling and took place at the Velodroom Limburg in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, from 12 to 16 February 2025. Schedule , - , ...

Heusden-Zolder Heusden-Zolder (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian Limburg (Belgium), province of Limburg near Hasselt. On 1 January 2006 Heusden-Zolder had a total population of 30,769. The total area is 53.23 ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, Degrendele announced that she was putting her career on hold as she and her partner were expecting a first child.

Major results

;2014 : European Junior Track Championships ::1st

::3rd

Sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...

UCI Juniors Track World Championships The UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships (named the UCI Juniors Track World Championships before 2016) are a set of world championship events for junior riders, for various disciplines and distances in track cycling and are regulated by ...

::1st

::3rd

:Belgian Xmas Meetings ::1st Keirin ::1st Sprint :1st Sprint, Grand Prix of Poland (U23) :Trofeu Ciutat de Barcelona ::2nd Keirin ::2nd Sprint :3rd Sprint, International Belgian Open ;2015 :Revolution – Round 2, Manchester ::1st Keirin ::1st Sprint :International Belgian Open ::1st Keirin ::3rd Sprint :3rd Keirin, Grand Prix of Poland :3rd Keirin, Trofeu CAR Anadia Portugal :Belgian Xmas Meetings ::3rd Keirin ::3rd Sprint ;2016 :1st Sprint, Track-Cycling Challenge Grenchen :Prova Internacional de Anadia ::2nd Keirin ::2nd Sprint :2nd Keirin, 6 giorni delle rose – Fiorenzuola :2nd Keirin, Grand Prix of Poland :3rd Keirin, Fenioux Piste International :2nd Keirin, UEC European U23 Championships :2nd Silver medal blank

UEC European Track Championships The European Track Cycling Championships are a set of elite level competition events held annually for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling, exclusively for European cyclists, and regulated by the European Cycling Union (UEC ...

;2017 :National Track Championships ::1st 500m time trial ::1st Keirin :1st Keirin, Troféu Internacional de Anadia :2nd Keirin, Belgian International Track Meeting :3rd Keirin, UCI World Track Championships :3rd Bronze medal blank

Sprint – Minsk,

UCI Track World Cup The UCI Track Cycling World Cup (formerly known as the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics) was a multi race tournament held over a track cycling season - usually between October and February. Each series is divided into several rounds, each held ...

:Fenioux Piste International ::3rd Sprint ::3rd Keirin ;2018 :1st Jersey rainbow

UCI Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

: UEC European Under-23 Track Championships ::1st Keirin ::3rd Sprint :International Belgian Track Meeting ::1st Keirin ::1st Sprint :2nd

;2022 :National Track Championships ::1st Keirin

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Degrendele, Nicky 1996 births Living people Belgian female cyclists UCI Track Cycling World Champions (women) Belgian track cyclists Cyclists at the 2019 European Games European Games competitors for Belgium People from Knokke-Heist Cyclists from West Flanders Olympic cyclists for Belgium Cyclists at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century Belgian sportswomen

Career

Major results

See also

References

External links