Belgians are usually a bit reluctant to show off their potential. You might call them a bit shy … and this makes them dangerous. During major events, such as the WC 2008 in Sweden, Belgian teams often compete for a top three result, “out of the blue”. Why does this happen?

There are many reasons for sure, and each team might have their own, but to me, there is one mean reason why Belgians tend to perform unexpectedly good at championships:

Most Belgian mushers  have a long off-snow training season, before leaving for some snow training and racing. Compared to the more fortunate Scandinavians & teams based in the Alps, they can only run on snow after driving at least 1000km. This limits their snow runs. Sure, it handicaps Belgians in their sledding technique and might trigger surprises in the dog’s adaptation to a cold and harsh climate. But off-snow training makes dogs tough, because the trail is heavier, the rigs weigh a lot more, and it is simply harder to keep the motivation up. When you succeed in overcoming those disadvantages, you usually end up with a strong(er) team that can peak on snow!