But the seventh edition, next weekend in Ghent (4-6 November) is the second within just five years, after a period of more than 30 years since the previous one in Genk, 1986.
Home hopes for top ten
Of the Belgian delegation, Tatika Bovendaerde has the best chance of a top-ten placing in Ghent next weekend. She is the most experienced in the Belgian team, having celebrated her UCI World Championships premiere in 2005 and participating every year until 2019. Ninth positions in 2011 and 2012 were her best placings in her 15 UCI World Championship appearances. Tatika missed the 2021 event and, after giving birth this year, is making a comeback for her home event, where she is seeded ninth.
Damen & Dirikx bow out
Meanwhile, Brecht Damen and Niels Dirikx will contest their final UCI World Championships in Ghent. The exceptional Belgian cycle-ball duo from Beringen have announced their retirement. With 21 years, including 17 seasons in the Belgian first division, behind them, it's time for something else, the two 33-year-old friends agree. Their second home UCI World Championships, after Liège 2018, seems to be the ideal time to say goodbye.
"In 2021, I had already decided that it wouldn't be long," says Niels Dirikx. The joy of cycle-ball is still there, "but the many sacrifices we have to make to be at the highest level no longer outweigh that," adds Dirikx, who now enjoys spending time outside on his road bike.
There has been another problem in the past ten years: a lack of competition at the right level in their own country, as Brecht Damen describes, "We have been miles ahead of the others (in Belgium) for so long." This culminated in them cycling 100km to a league match day in order to feel challenged. Conversely, it was difficult for the two to keep up with the world's best. "We regularly spent hours in the car for international tournaments and UCI World Cups and then, let's say, lost by double digits somewhere in no man's land, just to develop."
The seven-time Belgian champions were rewarded for their effort. "Our first Belgian title, in 2013, was one of the best moments," said Dirikx, recalling the hard fight against the top team from Ghent. Another highlight was their fourth place at the 2018 UCI World Championships in their own country. For their last appearance, they will once again go full throttle: "We gave everything in the preparation," they say, recognizing that while a medal is possible, "we could just as well finish sixth or seventh."
Cycle-ball contenders
But in the UCI World Championships title fight, the two are more likely to be given the role of outsiders. The clear contenders for the podium are last year’s three medalists: the two-time and reigning UCI World Champions Gerhard and Bernd Mlady (Germany); silver medallists Severin and Benjamin Waibel (Switzerland) and 2021’s third-placed pair, Patrick Schnetzer/ Stefan Feurstein (Austria).
France (Mathias Seyfried/ Quentin Seyfried), the Czech Republic with Jiri Hrdlicka (replacing injured Jan Havlicek)/ Robert Zvolanek, and Belgium, want to break into the top three and above all avoid last position: the team at the bottom of the tournament has to face the winner of the B-Division in the relegation match.
Artistic favourites
In artistic cycling, the clear favourites for gold and silver in all the competitions are German. In ACT4 the starting situation around the title is probably the most exciting. For Germany, the women's quartet from Mainz-Ebersheim will start for the first time. The European Champions Tijem Karatas, Annika Rosenbach, Stella Rosenbach and Milena Schwarz hold pole position. But the Swiss team from Baar has two former UCI World Champions within their ranks with Vanessa Hotz and Stefanie Moos. Together with Flavia Schürmann and Carole Ledergeber, the team is within striking distance. In the UCI World Cup final a week before the UCI World Championships, only one point separated the two teams.
In the Women Single class, the two German starters are celebrating their UCI World Championship debut. Nevertheless, the European Champion Jana Pfann and her club colleague Ramona Dandl (both Bruckmühl) are favourites. Behind them, Alessa Hotz (Switzerland) and 2021 bronze medallist Lorena Schneider (Austria) lead the chasing field for third and fourth place.
In the Pair Open class, signs point to another German double victory. Since this format was first officially held at the 1986 UCI World Championships, Germany has always won gold, and missed out on the silver medal only four times. The four-time reigning UCI World Champions Serafin Schefold and Max Hanselmann (GER) are set to play it safe at their sixth UCI World Championships, taking the handstand/headstand out of their presentation to obtain a larger time buffer.
This means that they still have a comfortable lead over last year’s runners-up Lea-Victoria Styber and Nico Rödiger (GER). Just three hours separate the preliminary round in the afternoon and the Final 4. Three other teams with the opportunity to make the Final are Austrians Katharina Kühne and Marcel Schnetzer as well as the two male pairs from Hong Kong: Lim Tsz Hin / Lim Tsz Leung, and Hui Chun Wai / Hui Chun Yin).
Another German duel for the title is to be expected in the Pair Women. Here, the European Champions Caroline Wurth and Sophie-Marie Wöhrle finally want to slip into the rainbow jersey at the fourth attempt after their three silver medals. For this they have to prevail against the reigning UCI World Champions Selina Marquardt and Helen Vordermeier. Wurth/Wöhrle recently achieved this at the German National Championships and in the final round of the UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup. The Austrians Rosa Kopf and Svenja Bachmann are aiming for the final 4 again after two successive bronze medals, as are the two pairs from Switzerland: Jeannine Graf/ Nadine Zuberbühler and Sina Bäggli/ Julia Hämmerli.
Anything but a victory by five-time UCI World Champion Lukas Kohl (GER) would be a sensation in the Men Single competition. Since winning his first rainbow bands in 2016, the world record holder is unbeaten and has achieved one 200-point result after the next. Marcel Jüngling (GER), runner-up in the 2019 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships, is seeded third and usually duels with the Spaniard Emilio Arellano, who grew up in Germany and won bronze in 2021.
The event starts on Friday at 9.30am and will end on Sunday afternoon.