In the Northern hemisphere, autumn has arrived, and so has the cyclo-cross season. The discipline’s specialists returned to action last month with C1 and C2 races. And they’re now gearing up for the 30th edition of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, first held in 1993.
That year, Belgium’s Paul Herijgers won the three first races and the overall standings after five events held throughout Europe. Three decades later, the stars of cyclo-cross will battle it out over 14 races, until the final round in Besançon at the end of January 2023. And it all starts this weekend in the USA.
Here are this year’s events that will see champions try to succeed Lucinda Brand (NED) and Eli Iserbyt (BEL) winners of the Elite standings last season:
9 October: 2022: Waterloo (USA WI) 16 October: 2022: Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA) 23 October 2022: Tábor (Czech Republic) 30 October 2022: Maasmechelen (Belgium) 13 November 2022: Beekse Bergen- North Brabant (Netherlands) 20 November 2022: Overijse (Belgium) 27 November 2022: Hulst (Netherlands) 4 December 2022: Antwerp (Belgium) 11 December 2022: Dublin (Ireland) 17 December 2022: Val di Sole, Trentino (Italy) 26 December 2022: Gavere (Belgium) 8 January 2023: Zonhoven (Belgium) 22 January 2023: Benidorm, Costa Blanca (Spain) 29 January 2023: Besançon (France)
✈️ Waterloo, here we come! 🇺🇸#CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/jbTts7eDrz
— UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup (@UCIcyclocrossWC) October 5, 2022
All these events will feature races in the Women Elite and Men Elite categories, with some also holding races for the Men Under 23, Men Junior and Women Junior. Riders from the Women Under 23 category will race with the Women Elite but battle for their own standings. Last season, Dutch Under 23 riders Puck Pieterse and Fem van Empel claimed their first Elite UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup podium spots, with Pieterse narrowly winning the overall Under 23 standings.
Iserbyt, always on top on American soil?
Kicking off the UCI World Cup in the USA has become a tradition in recent years. Last year, Iserbyt led the overall standings of the series from round one and stayed on top until the end.
With seven wins in 15 events, the two-time U23 UCI World Champion showed he had reached maturity. Can he repeat last year’s dominance? He is used to launching the season in strong fashion – having already won in Waterloo in 2019 – and will be eager to show his early-season strength ahead of his 25th birthday, on the eve of the third round of the UCI World Cup, in Tábor.
In Waterloo, in the state of Wisconsin - on the circuit around the Trek Bicycle Corporation headquarters and its factory that manufactures bikes and bike components -, Iserbyt will vie with established champions such as fellow Belgian Michael Vanthourenhout as well as rising stars seizing the opportunity to challenge at the highest level: Pim Ronhaar (NED - Under 23 UCI World Champion in 2020), Thibau Nys (BEL – Junior UCI World Champion in 2020) and David Haverdings (winner of every round of the Junior UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup last season).
Meanwhile, other stars such as Wout van Aert and Mathieu Van der Poel are preparing to get in the mix as they transition from the road season.
Icons and rising stars
Last year’s American races also set the tone for the women’s racing. Marianne Vos (NED) was the first winner of the UCI World Cup season, a few months before claiming her 6th title of cyclo-cross UCI World Champion. Second in Waterloo, Lucinda Brand (NED) quickly rose to the overall leadership, with a victory in Fayetteville, and eventually dominated the UCI World Cup for the second year in a row. She only temporarily ceded her place at the head of the provisional standings to Marianne Vos and Denise Betsema (NED) at the beginning of the season.
In 2022, Brand has had a strong season on the road (winner of the Tour de Suisse Women, 3rd in Paris-Roubaix Femmes) and she’s very recently won Meulebeke’s Berencross (Belgium), ahead of Van Empel.
At 33 years old, Brand is among the veterans of the women’s field while Van Empel is a 20-year-old star in the making, who claimed an extraordinary Elite victory in the UCI World Cup last year in Val di Sole (Italy).
In Waterloo, Van Empel will be one of the 12 Women Under 23 riders battling with the more-seasoned Brand, Betsema, Annemarie Worst (NED), Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (NED), Hélène Clauzel (FRA) and another American athlete, from Oregon, Clara Honsinger.
The established stars and rising talents will have many opportunities to shine along the season, in iconic cross venues such as Overijse or in new venues like Maasmechelen, Beekse Bergen, Dublin (which will host the first UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup ever in Ireland), and Benidorm (the first Spanish round since December 2011). The iconic cyclo-cross venues of Antwerp and Gavere will host rounds of the discipline’s UCI World Cup for the first time.
The season promises numerous highlights and twists. And it all begins this weekend in the USA.