Young Belgian squad delivers when it mattered most
Belgium is back on top of the motocross world.
A young Team Belgium squad featuring Liam Everts, Lucas Coenen and Sacha Coenen produced a remarkably composed performance at Ernée to win the 79th Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations and end the country’s 13-year wait for victory.
The result gives Belgium its 16th Motocross of Nations victory, moving the nation level with Great Britain for second on the all-time winners’ list.
But this was not a victory built around dominating every race. It was earned through consistency, composure and three riders delivering when the pressure was at its highest.
And for Lucas Coenen, simply making it to the starting gate was already an achievement.
Lucas Coenen went from struggling to championship glory
Coenen revealed after the event that just days before the Nations, he could barely manage ten minutes on the bike.
“Last Sunday I could barely do 10 minutes, I was completely done,” .
the Belgian admitted
With help from Belgian physiotherapist Danny and the support of coach Joël, Coenen managed to get back on the bike, ride on Tuesday and eventually arrive at Ernée ready to represent his country.
The stakes were enormous. The Nations format leaves little room for weakness, and every result contributes to the overall team score.
Lucas responded with fifth in Race 1 and seventh in Race 2, while his younger brother Sacha improved dramatically after a difficult opening outing to finish seventh in the second race.
It was precisely the kind of team contribution Belgium needed.
“Belgium’s back on top,” .
Lucas said afterwards
Everts embraces the pressure — and his family’s legacy
If the Coenen brothers provided the youthful energy, Liam Everts delivered the consistency and composure that ultimately separated Belgium from its rivals.
Everts immediately adapted to the 450cc machine and finished fourth in Race 1 before producing another fourth-place result in Race 2.
His performance was especially important in the final MXGP + Open race, where Belgium needed him to stay near the front.
Everts did exactly that.
Starting strongly, he ran with the leaders before eventually finishing fourth. More importantly, he had no idea just how significant his result had been until he crossed the finish line.
“I had no idea we were in the position to win, actually. It was only when I saw the guys in the pit lane that I noticed we had won.”
Everts said
For the Everts family, the moment carried another layer of history.
Liam became the latest member of the family to win the Nations for Belgium, following his father Stefan and grandfather Harry Everts. Harry’s first Belgian Nations victory came 50 years ago.
It was another chapter in one of motocross’s most celebrated family dynasties.
Belgium’s victory was built on consistency
While riders such as Jeffrey Herlings, Romain Febvre and Jorge Prado claimed individual race victories, Belgium quietly kept accumulating the results it needed.
Herlings was sensational for the Netherlands, winning all three races and helping his country secure third overall. Prado delivered Spain’s best-ever Nations result, with Spain finishing second after a historic first podium.
France, meanwhile, saw its challenge collapse after multiple crashes, despite Febvre winning Race 1 and Race 3 individually.
That chaos made consistency even more valuable.
Belgium avoided the kind of catastrophic results that destroyed the home team’s chances and kept three riders contributing throughout the day.
The result was a championship built not around one superstar, but around three riders trusting each other when the pressure peaked.
Spain makes history as Herlings rescues the Dutch
Behind Belgium, Spain celebrated a breakthrough of its own.
Prado, Guillem Farrés and Francisco García delivered Spain’s first-ever Motocross of Nations podium, with Prado winning the MXGP class and Farrés taking the MX2 honours.
For the Netherlands, Herlings once again demonstrated why he remains one of the sport’s most dangerous competitors.
After crashing while trying to pass Everts in Race 3 and dropping deep into the field, Herlings recovered spectacularly. He hunted down Prado late in the race and eventually passed the Spaniard to claim another victory.
“I kept my head down, kept charging and worked my way back to the lead,” .
Herlings said
His individual brilliance helped the Dutch team secure third overall.
Ernée delivers another unforgettable Nations weekend
More than 105,000 spectators attended across the three-day event, creating the kind of atmosphere that makes the Motocross of Nations unlike any other race on the calendar.
The hillside was packed, the noise was relentless and the racing delivered everything from championship pressure to spectacular crashes and dramatic comebacks.
But ultimately, Ernée belonged to Belgium.
For Everts, the Coenen brothers and everyone working behind the scenes, the Peter Chamberlain Trophy represents far more than another piece of silverware.
It is the reward for surviving a brutally competitive weekend as a team.
And after 13 years, Belgium can finally say it again:
The Nations trophy is coming home.
