A typical week has two or three race days. On those days the group travels to the kermesse, warms up, races, then recovers and eats together. Race distances run 60-70 km for the 15-16s (roughly 1.5 to 1.75 hours) and 88-99 km for the 17-18s (roughly 2 to 2.5 hours). The courses are town-centre circuits with road furniture, expansion joints and cobbles, so bike handling matters as much as fitness.

On non-race days the programme mixes training with time off the bike: war memorials, a day in Bruges, and riding the Belgian countryside. Riders train, eat and live together for the full three weeks, which the organisers treat as part of the point — teamwork and independence alongside racing.

The camp is led by Joe Holmes, an Elite Level 1 USA Cycling coach with a UCI Coaching Diploma. He has over a decade in international junior development, including work with the US Junior National Team, a stint as European Sport Director for the LUX Junior Men's Team in 2021, and the US Junior National Team Director role at the World Championships in Leuven, Belgium. Jon Heidemann, also an Elite Level 1 USA Cycling coach, has been in competitive cycling nationally and internationally since 1986, working with individual athletes, clubs, teams and bodies including the Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado and USA Cycling, and has directed men's junior teams (15-16 and 17-18) in Quebec and Belgium for USA Cycling and Team California.

Apprentice assistants who rode the Belgian Race Academy as juniors make up the rest of the staff. They know several of the races on the schedule first-hand and tell riders what to expect.

Belgium is the base because that is where the development pathway runs. The organisers point out that North American road races are fewer and further apart, while a Belgian junior can race up to three times a week through the summer. The camp is built around that density of racing.

Riders need to sort their equipment before arrival: maximum gearing is 7.68 m for U17 and 10.16 m for U19, minimum handlebar width is 40 cm outside-to-outside (38 cm centre-to-centre), and maximum rim depth is 40 mm for U17 and 65 mm for U19. A foreign permission letter from USA Cycling is required.

What's included

- Lodging for the three-week camp - Food - Professionally licensed team staff - Phase 1 team kit custom made by Castelli Cycling - Transportation to and from races

What's not included

- Airfare to Belgium - Travel and cancellation insurance - Foreign permission letter from USA Cycling - Personal spending money