The race at Heusden-Zolder, run as the Grand Prix Eric De Vlaeminck after the seven-time world champion, uses the Circuit Zolder motor-racing track and the wooded ground beside it. Riders go flat out on the wide tarmac and then into steep climbs, drops and an awkward off-camber climb, so it asks for both raw speed and bike handling. The venue hosted the World Championships in 2002, when Mario De Clercq led a Belgian clean sweep, and again in 2016. That year Wout van Aert lost contact with the leaders when defending champion Mathieu van der Poel's foot caught in his front wheel, then chased back on the final lap and beat Lars van der Haar for his first elite world title. In December 2025 Tibor Del Grosso outsprinted Van Aert, who had won the previous three editions here. Long a World Cup fixture around 26 December, the race is held on Christmas Day itself for the first time in 2026.