Combining prestigious, popular classics - who could imagine the discipline’s UCI World Cup without the infamous Koksijde sand dunes? - and venues never yet seen in the series – not least the Italian resort of Val di Sole followed a week later by new Dutch venue Rucphen -, there will not be a dull moment.
The intense back-to-back racing, with almost double the number of rounds compared to previous seasons, sees the light of day one year later than planned after the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted proceedings during the 2020-2021 season. While all 16 rounds are on schedule to go ahead this season, the number of host nations remains lower than envisaged due to ongoing restrictions in some countries.
That will change in the years to come assures UCI Sports Director Peter Van den Abeele, who points to the continued development of the discipline.
“We just need to look at the number of UCI Cyclo-cross Teams, which has increased from 13 in 2017-2018 to 36 in 2021-2022,” says Van den Abeele. Of these UCI-registered teams, four are UCI Professional Cyclo-cross Teams, which means they can also participate in road events. This category of team was introduced one year ago to facilitate the participation of cyclo-cross specialists in road events and create more visibility for sponsors investing in cyclo-cross teams.
Bring on the young riders
Peter Van den Abeele also highlights the efforts being made to develop cyclo-cross among the youth categories: “The top road cyclists come from cyclo-cross. Mathieu Van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe… they all started in cyclo-cross. That is where riders learn the bike skills to cope with riding in a peloton, and where they get their explosivity and ability to attack, to change rhythm…”
The revenue generated from the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup will enable the UCI to increase its funding to National Federations to help them send their young riders to UCI World Cup events: “This is all part of the UCI’s strategy to develop cyclo-cross and ensure the young generation coming through gains international experience.”
The rounds with youth categories will take place in Tábor (Czech Republic) on 14 November, consecutive Belgian rounds in Namur and Dendermonde on 19 and 26 December followed by Flamanville (France) on 16 January and Hoogerheide (the Netherlands) on 23 January, just a week before the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.
As Peter Van den Abeele points out: “The last half of December and January is a key period for cyclo-cross. It is very compact. After the National Championships (8-9 January for most nations) there will be two rounds the following weekends then straight into the UCI World Championships.”
In the lead-up to rainbow jersey battles on American soil
Those UCI World Championships will be travelling to the USA – more precisely Fayetteville – eight years after they were last held on American soil, in Louisville. They will be a ground-breaking edition with the organisation of a team relay test event in which nations will field mixed teams of three men and three women from the Elite and youth categories. Riders will be able to check out the Fayetteville course at the second of three American rounds of the 2021-2022 Cyclo-cross World Cup. Indeed, the three opening rounds of the series all take place in the USA within one week of each other so as to reduce unnecessary travel expenses and logistics.
Flanders Classics
The carefully thought-out UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup calendar is drawn up by Flanders Classics, whose CEO Tomas Van den Spiegel looks forward to the first new-look season: “We’re really excited after last year’s false start due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We will see new rounds that were scheduled for last season but that couldn’t take place.” For Van den Spiegel, highlights of the new calendar include the addition of Fayetteville to the American stopover, and the increase to two French rounds (Besançon and Flamanville) as opposed to just one in previous seasons.
He also makes particular mention of the new Italian round: “I’m really looking forward to Val di Sole (12 December) which will be held in a cross-country skiing location. Val di Sole has made a name for itself in the world of mountain bike, and cyclo-cross will also be great there.”
Meanwhile the round in Antwerp (Belgium) on 5 December is part of the desire to take cyclo-cross to big cities and involve larger communities.
The intense racing calendar gives little respite to athletes chasing the overall UCI World Cup title, and for the first time even includes two rounds on two consecutive days – Rucphen (NED) and Namur (BEL) on 18 and 19 December. But nothing has been left to chance: “The two venues are not too far away from each other (about two hours by car) and the courses have different characteristics. Rucphen is a fast course while Namur is very tough so they can be raced on consecutive days,” assures the Flanders Classics CEO.
However, there are 10 rounds before that double-header weekend, and it all starts this Sunday, 10 October, in Waterloo (USA).