By Emily Laflamme | Oct 13, 2016

On Monday, October 10, xXx Racing-Athletico was honored to present the Pieter Ombregt Scholarship Fund at Columbia College with a donation of almost $15,000. Funds were raised through two cyclocross skills clinics held in September, led by world champions Sven Nys and Sven Vanthourenhout. Over 90 participants attended and all profits from registration fees were donated to the scholarship.

Pieter Ombregt was a member of xXx Racing-Athletico for two seasons from 2006-2007. He was born in 1980 in Kanegem (Tielt), Belgium and came to Chicago in 2003 to study photography at Columbia College. He was a gifted photographer, an accomplished cyclist and a dear friend to the Chicago cycling community. Pieter died on September 11, 2007, from injuries he sustained in a bicycle racing accident.

The Pieter Ombregt Scholarship Fund was established in 2007 by his aunt, Anne-Marie Ombregt, to support advanced undergraduate photography students at Columbia College.

Thank you to Sven Nys and Sven Vanthourenhout (the Svens!) for generously donating their time and expertise, and to all clinic participants for contributing to such a worthy cause.