Following an agreement between both partners, approximately 350 cycling jerseys and about 30 trophies will move to Roeselare. The eye-catchers include a world champion jersey from Eddy Merckx, a green jersey from Walter Godefroot, several jerseys from the Van der Poel family, a time trial suit from Fabian Cancellara and rare pieces from the legendary Groene Leeuw team.
The Musette
The transfer follows the recent repurposing of cycling museum ‘De Velodroom’ into museum café ‘De Musette’ on the Schorre in Boom. Since 2018, the Flemish Community took over responsibility for cultural heritage and museums from the provinces and therefore the management of a museum collection is no longer one of the most important tasks of the Provincial Recreational Domain.
Partner
The Schorre cycling collection is nevertheless an important part of the Flemish cycling heritage that deserves a permanent, publicly accessible place. De Schorre therefore looked for and found a partner with KOERS with the right expertise to take over, preserve and make accessible the core of the collection.
Loan
KOERS also undertakes to advise De Schorre in the future about the destination of the remaining items from the collection. In addition, ‘De Musette’, the museum café of De Schorre, will have access to the KOERS collection through loan to organize themed exhibitions in Boom.
Sustainable future
Mireille Colson, deputy for Green and Recreational Domains for the province of Antwerp: “The Musette and the cycling collection are strongly linked to the history of De Schorre. Such a valuable collection deserves a professional heritage environment where it is well preserved, researched and displayed. With KOERS, this piece of Flemish cycling heritage will have a sustainable future. And thanks to the collaboration, the cycling atmosphere of ‘De Musette’ remains tangible for visitors.”