2022-2023 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup: Sweeck and Van Empel rise to the summit

The winners of the 2022-2023 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup have been crowned after the last round in Besançon (France), just ahead of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, to be held in Hoogerheide (the Netherlands) next weekend.

Men Elite: Sweeck’s consistency pays off

Regularity is the name of the game and that’s how Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Fristads) dominated the Men Elite overall standings of the 2022-2023 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, 12 years after he claimed victory in the Junior ranks. The Belgian rider didn’t miss any of the series’ 14 rounds and his lowest result was 6th position, in Gavere (Belgium).

His compatriot Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) was in charge of the early season but Sweeck stayed close (2nd in both the American rounds of Waterloo and Fayetteville, Arkansas) before he pounced in Maasmechelen (Belgium) and Beekse Bergen (the Netherlands), where he claimed his first Elite UCI World Cup victories. Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) also got in the mix with two victories in Overijse (Belgium) and Val di Sole (Italy) but Sweeck’s consistency ensured him the overall success. He becomes the 17th overall winner of the UCI Men Elite Cyclo-cross World Cup, the 10th hailing from Belgium.

Vanthourenhout finishes the season second overall, and Iserbyt third.

Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) also impressed in the latter parts of the series. The former won five rounds, including the last one in Besançon. Van Aert took victory on two occasions and finished 2nd at the other three UCI Cyclo-cross World Cups in which he participated this season.

Women Elite: Van Empel on top of the Dutch new wave

While Belgians have been dominating the men’s rankings, Dutch women rule the women’s competition. At only 20 years old, Fem van Empel confirmed there’s a new generation already coming of age and ready to get the better of their celebrated elders.

The young rising star, who started the season with Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal before joining Marianne Vos’ Jumbo-Visma on 1st January, became the 7th Dutchwoman to win the Women Elite overall standings of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. And she did so in spectacular fashion.

Van Empel immediately powered to the overall lead, winning the first four events in Waterloo, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Tábor (Czech Republic) and Maasmechelen. She kept impressing on different terrain with three more victories in Antwerp (Belgium), Dublin (Ireland) and Benidorm (Spain).

Only her young compatriots Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Shirin van Anrooij (Baloise Trek Lions) managed to get the better of Van Empel on a few occasions: four victories for Pieterse and three for Van Anrooij. The three Dutch wonderkids who occupied the top three placings in the overall standings, are set to light fireworks in Hoogerheide.

Under 23 and Junior: Molengraaf, Nys and Bisiaux take victory

Dutch and Belgian talents are also brewing in the younger categories but the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup has allowed rising champions from many horizons to power to the front in the five different rounds of the series.

Canadian twin sisters Ava and Isabella Holmgren rose through the ranks across the season, until Ava won the last Women Junior round in Besançon with Isabella also stepping onto the podium (3rd). They both feature on the podium of the overall standings (Ava 2nd, Isabella 3rd) behind Lauren Molengraaf. The young Dutchwoman had won the first four rounds of the series and she can dream of gold at home in the UCI Worlds.

In the Men Under 23 category, Belgium’s Thibau Nys (Baloise Trek Lions) showed a similar dominance - he won the first four races and skipped the last round in Besançon, where Dutchman Tibor del Grosso claimed victory at only 19 years old. Already a winner of the Men Junior UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in 2019-2020, Nys has successfully stepped up to the Under 23 category. Will he also dominate when he reached the Elite, as did his father Sven?

The Men Junior category saw four different riders take victory this season: France’s Léo Bisiaux, the Netherlands’ Guus van Eijnden and the Belgians Yordi Corsus and Seppe van den Boer. The young Frenchman was the only one able to win on two occasions, in Tábor and Zonhoven (Belgium), to secure the overall triumph.

All these athletes are now focusing on the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, to be held in Hoogerheide (February 3-5). After an intense season of battles, it’s time to go all in for the rainbow jersey.