The only positive thing to come from shorter days and colder darker nights is here.
Cyclocross!
We have had the big summer grand tours and the classics are almost at their end. It’s time for the mud, frites and frothy beer… and I am ready and waiting.
For anyone new to it, ‘cross is the perfect hybrid of road racing and cross country running with some of the biggest stars you see racing their bikes joining in at times of the season.
They are Tom Pidcock, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel.
But the sport has its own superstars who will be kicking off the season proper at the Berencross this Sunday. My personal favourites are Eli Iserbyt of Pawuels Sauces and Laurens Sweeck of Crelan/Correndon. They are bitter rivals who have had a fair bit of beef over the years.
Iserbyt is always worth a watch. His temper is short and his passion for racing high although he wont be seen until November this season due to a lingering injury.
The season doesn’t have a single classification or series of racing, confusingly.
There is the UCI World Cup, Telenet Superprestige and X2O Trofee.
The first two run on a points over the line classification, whereas the X20 is combined time across the series.
The races are all based on completing a number of laps that concludes the race closest to one hour of duration. After the first two laps are raced the officials an calculate how may laps will be needed to achieve that.
Whilst the Belgian racing starts this weekend the main series commence on 11th October with the Superprestige in Ruddervorde.
There are a number of must watch races each season, great races and iconic venues and here are my personal favourites…
Gavere – A Boxing Day classic in Flanders where the mud and festivities flow. A world cup venue, I went here in 2023 (where I took the picture above of van Aert) and it was a brilliant hilly course with lots of fast action.
Namur – This one is so Belgian its untrue. It has cobbles, steep climbs and the off camber bank that makes highlights reels every year. It always catchs a rider or two out.
Koksijde – Take the mud and action and throw in a beach. This one seems to be a calendar highlight for the whole of Belgium, not just cycling fans.
Koppenberg Cross – Takes in the classic Tour of Flanders climb each lap before meandering back down to Oudenaarde through the fields. The strongest always wins here.
The fesitve period is always great and there are always a couple of floodlit night races thrown in which I enjoy. You can get the action on TNT Sports which is expensive but for the next four months, you wont regret it!
Links to the excellent Cyclocross24 website for each series calendar and results.
Fendrien 
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