Retired star cyclist Paolo Bettini will make his Intercontinental Rally Challenge debut when he contests the Ypres Rally in Belgium from June 18-20 in a privately-entered Grande Punto Abarth S2000. Bettini, a long-term rally fan, has contested a handful of events in his native Italy in the past.

He is linking up with one of his fellow cyclists, Franco Ballarin, for an attack on the prestigious asphalt-based Ypres Rally in Belgium. Ballarin will co-drive the Italian Super2000 category car. They chose the Ypres Rally because of its location to the Flanders region of Belgium, where they tackled several major cycling races in the past.

Bettini, 34, won several major titles during his cycling career, including at Olympic and World Championship-level, and the Italian was considered one of the finest classic riders of his generation. He first shot to the attention of the cycling world by winning the tough Liège-Bastogne-Liège road race in 2000, repeating the same feat two years later. The next year (2003) he set a record for World Cup wins in a single season: three victories coming on the Milan-Sanremo, HEW Cyclassics and Clásica de San Sebastián. Other prestigious wins Bettini claimed during a star-studded career include the Giro di Lombardia (2005 and 2006), the Züri-Metzgete (2001 and 2005) and the Tirreno-Adriatico (2004). He also collected three gold medals: the first coming in the 2004 Olympic Games road race in Athens, which he followed up with golds in the 2006 and 2007 World Road Race Championships. Nicknamed Il Grillo ("the cricket") by cycling fans for his sudden sprinting attacks, Betti retired from competing professionally last year following a series of injuries.

Despite having gained some experience of the rallying arena, Bettini will face a major challenge to adapt to the rigours of driving on the tight and twisty Belgian roads. However, there is a strong precedent for drivers successfully switching from two wheels to four on the IRC: the reigning IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz is a former 10-time downhill mountain bike champion.