Jolien_Verschueren
Jolien Verschueren
Belgian cyclist (1990–2021)
Jolien Verschueren (7 May 1990 – 2 July 2021) was a Belgian cyclo-cross cyclist, who rode for UCI Cyclo-cross team Pauwels Sauzen–Bingoal.[1] She represented her nation in the women's elite event at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Heusden-Zolder.[2][3]
Verschueren combined her cycling career with working as a schoolteacher.[4] She won the Koppenbergcross in 2015 and repeated this at the 2016 DVV Verzekeringen Trofee Koppenbergcross 2016, besting world champion Thalita de Jong.[5] On 12 April 2018, it was announced that earlier that week Verschueren was operated on to remove a malignant brain tumor.[6] Verschueren tried a comeback in 2019 and 2020 but her health did not allow for good results. Her last race was the 2020 edition of the Koppenbergcross.[4] Verschueren died of brain cancer on 2 July 2021.[7] In October 2021 the organisers of the Koppenbergcross announced that the women's edition of the race would be known as the Grand Prix Jolien Verschueren in her memory.[4]