Belgians' World Championship preparations were bizarrely disrupted at American border: 'Customs officers weren’t exactly thrilled about that'

Benoot and Hermans both rode the GP Québec and GP Montréal, for Decathlon CMA CGM and Pinarello - Q36.5, respectively. Afterward, the pair stayed in Canada to complete some substantial training rides. Bromont, located about forty kilometers from the Canadian-American border, served as their base for the coming weeks.

After they had, in their own words, “outgrown” Bromont, Hermans and Benoot decided to venture a bit further afield. They wanted to take their training ride across the border. But you can’t just walk into the United States. That’s what teammate Alec Segaert explains in the Vals Plat podcast. “They set out on a ride toward the U.S., but were stopped at the border,” said the Bahrain Victorious rider.

Because to enter the U.S., you have to show a valid entry permit. They didn’t have one. “The customs officers weren’t exactly thrilled about that,” says Segaert. “They held them there for a few hours anyway to fill out all sorts of paperwork. In the end, they didn’t get a single meter further and were forced to return to Canada.”

That was, however, only after a thorough inspection by the border patrol, who took the two Belgians’ little trip very seriously. “It was a very small border checkpoint, where very few cars passed through during those two to three hours. In any case, they definitely weren’t allowed to cross on their bikes. They had to be checked to make sure they weren’t members of cartels or anything like that.”

After spending several hours at the border checkpoint, the two were allowed to return to their lodging. The break is clearly visible on Strava: after cycling 40 kilometers, the pair stopped for two hours. They then resumed their ride, eventually covering nearly 200 kilometers. “Mexico was already in sight,” Benoot jokes on his Strava account.