Minimax Cycling Team will open its 2026 season on Belgian roads at Samyn des Dames on Monday, and the Walloon squad are not pretending this is just another start line. In an interview with RTBF ahead of the race, team figures outlined how quickly the project has scaled since it launched in 2020, and why the next step is now clear: securing the funding required to move up again, into UCI Women’s ProTeam level.
Coach and marketing lead Robin Ernst explained that the early years were built on improvisation, before the project gradually added the basics that make a modern race programme function. His point was simple: Minimax now look and operate like a proper team, with bikes, support vehicles, mobile homes, tyres, wheels, and time trial equipment in place.
That infrastructure matters because it changes what the team can offer riders, and how seriously they can approach a full season.
“More than 100 CVs” as riders come to Minimax
One of the most striking details was Ernst’s claim that Minimax did not need to approach riders this winter. He said the team received more than a hundred applications for roughly ten places, with several slots already earmarked for riders stepping up from the team’s own development group.
Sports manager Ludivine Henrion linked that level of demand to Belgium’s calendar and geography, as well as the team’s growing reputation. The ability to race frequently without major travel remains a big pull, especially for riders trying to build experience, results, and visibility.
The next jump depends on salaries and sponsors
If the sporting ambition is clear, the financial gap is just as blunt. Minimax’s budget is reported to be close to €1 million, which is significant at Continental level but still short of what is required to become a ProTeam.
Henrion said the core difference is straightforward: at ProTeam level, riders and staff must be paid. That makes the salary line the biggest hurdle, and she put the target budget for that step at roughly €1.2 to €1.4 million. Her message was that Minimax now need one or two major sponsors to supply the additional cash required to professionalise the structure.
Photo Credit: MediADNKeeping the “family” identity while growing
The report also leaned into the team’s identity as a family-style structure that spans age categories, with junior support helped by Federation Wallonia-Brussels. Eighteen-year-old Manon Viaene, who has been with the set-up for three years, described the benefits of a more professional environment without losing the closeness of the group.
Viaene also set out an obvious long-term dream: racing the Tour de France Femmes one day, ideally with Minimax. Team president Luc Mayné framed a more local version of that same ambition, suggesting that reaching races like Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Flèche Wallonne or the Tour of Flanders with a team largely made up of Walloon riders would represent a defining milestone for the project.
A 2026 season that starts with intent
For now, Minimax’s focus is on being visible and active throughout 2026, and Samyn des Dames offers exactly the kind of start they want: hard Belgian racing, a deep field, and a chance to race with ambition rather than simply survive.
