Round 5 of the cyclocross World Cup will take place this Friday, December 26th, in Gavere. It is the first race after Christmas and the continuation of the Christmas block, with Mathieu van der Poel headlining the race and having a shot at taking the lead of the competition. We take a look at the startlist of the Gavere race, and where to watch it online, on TV, in the USA and UK.
This is a race that van der Poel has now won three times in a row. In Antwerp, Koksijde and Hofstade the sand made the difference, in Heusden-Zolder the speed was incredibly high and explosive but in Gavere, even in dry conditions, will be a course more suited to the climbers. A wide, grassy track with a few longer climbs and running sections that will make creating differences an easy task for the strongest.
Map of the 2025 Gavere World Cup Cyclocross race
How to watch
The women’s elite race will start at 13:40CET and should end at approximately 14:30CET. The men’s race begins at 15:10CET and should end at around 16:15CET.
The race will be broadcast on Eurosport and HBO Max/Discover+ as is usual, as well as the UCI’s Youtube channel live. Furthermore this race will be broadcast in:
BelgiumSporza & RTBFUnited StatesFloBikesCanadaFloBikesUnited KingdomTNT SportsFranceL’ÉquipeTVNetherlandsNOSCzech RepublicCeská TeleviseItalyRaiPlayDenmarkTV2 DanmarkSlovakiaRTV: Sport SlovakiaSpainRTVEHungaryM4-SportMen’s race
This is a race for Mathieu van der Poel to dominate, I’m afraid. Climbing courses aren’t his favourite, but they mean he can create the difference more easily, and technically speaking he is incredibly strong at the moment. He has also been choosing his schedule more conservatively, because he does not need to fight for classifications – although mathematically speaking, he could actually jump to the lead here already.
Tibor del Grosso, winning in Heusden-Zolder, will be interesting to follow from now on with a different status after beating Wout van Aert. Joris Nieuwenhuis, Lars van der Haar, Pim Ronhaar, Ryan Kamp, Mees Hendrickx, Michael Vanthourenhout, Niels Vandeputte, Thibau Nys, Laurens Sweeck, Toon Aert, Emiel Verstrynge, Joran Wyseure, Toon Vandebosch, Jente Michels, Felipe Orts, Kevin Kuhn and Cameron Mason add to the mix on this race.Startlist Men World Cup GavereNumberRider1 VAN DER POEL Mathieu2 NIEUWENHUIS Joris3 VAN DER HAAR Lars4 RONHAAR Pim5 DEL GROSSO Tibor6 KAMP Ryan7 HENDRIKX Mees8 VAN LIEROP Danny9 DELNOIJE Remon10 RIJVERS Max11 VANTHOURENHOUT Michael12 VANDEPUTTE Niels13 NYS Thibau14 SWEECK Laurens15 AERTS Toon16 VERSTRYNGE Emiel17 WYSEURE Joran18 VANDEBOSCH Toon19 MICHELS Jente20 MEEUSSEN Witse21 VAN DE PUTTE Victor22 VANDENBERGHE Viktor23 FERDINANDE Anton24 DE BRAUWERE Sil25 JANSSEN Wout26 BOMMENEL Nathan27 MENUT David28 THOMAS Théo29 GABRIEL Timothé30 DEBORD Romain31 LELANDAIS Rémi32 LEQUET Corentin33 ORTS Felipe34 JUNQUERA Mario35 INGUANZO Gonzalo36 MIRA Raul37 GOMEZ Marcos38 KUHN Kevin39 SOMMER Lars40 BARD Nicolas41 MASON Cameron42 MEIN Thomas43 STROHMEYER Andrew44 VAN KEMPEN Jules45 ZAKRAJSEK Dylan46 DRUMMOND Ryan47 CONAWAY Calvin48 SHELTON Noah49 JUNGE Frederick50 KING Carden51 BERNHARD Jack52 VOLLMUTH Aidan53 CLARK Tyler54 SCOTT Cody55 BATES Rhett56 SARGENT Liam57 BRISEBOIS Remi58 BERTOLINI Gioele59 FONTANA Filippo60 SCAPPINI Samuele61 CAFUERI Tommaso62 DE LONGHI Lorenzo63 ZANOLINI Alan65 BOROŠ Michael66 ODA Hijiri67 ENDO Kosuke68 KAJI Tetsuki69 OKAYAMA Yuta70 GROENENDAAL Bailey71 NIELSEN Daniel Weis72 BRUYNSEELS Dries73 RISBERG David74 HEIGL Philipp75 LUKŠAS Dovydas76 NICHVOLODOV Artur77 TURNER JacobWomen’s race
Lucinda Brand is secure in the lead of the world cup, winning every race she’s started, and in this course it’s quite likely that she will do it again. However the competition is growing with speed, specially from those that have started their season now recently. Aniek van Alphen, Inge van her Heijden and Manon Bakker may not have the top end speed that other rivals will have. Amandine Fouquenet has just won in Zolder and she will actually be a very interesting rival, alongside Célia Gery who was second to Brand at the Koppenbercross. Leonie Bentvelt is also eyeing the classification.
Marion Norbert Riberolle, Leonie Bentveld, Sara Casasola are also present and will be meaningful contenders. Puck Pieterse, Shirin van Anrooij, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Blanka Kata Vas specially can be dangerous at this point in time and can begin to put Brand’s dominance into question.
Startlist Women World Cup Gavere2 BRAND Lucinda3 VAN DER HEIJDEN Inge4 VAN ALPHEN Aniek5 BAKKER Manon6 PIETERSE Puck7 BENTVELD Leonie8 ALVARADO Ceylin del Carmen9 BETSEMA Denise10 VAN ANROOIJ Shirin11 HARTOG Larissa12 WORST Annemarie13 CABACA Mae14 MOES Noï15 SONNEMANS Sara16 MOS Anniek17 FOUQUENET Amandine18 CLAUZEL Hélène19 GERY Célia20 MULLER Amandine21 GALLEZOT Electa22 HURTELOUP Adèle23 BURQUIER Line24 DURAFFOURG Lauriane25 NORBERT RIBEROLLE Marion26 BROUWERS Julie27 VERDONSCHOT Laura28 PEETERS Jinse29 CRABBÉ Kiona30 VERVLOET Sterre31 MOORS Fleur32 VAN SINAEY Xaydee33 VAN DE STEENE Kim34 DE BRUYCKERE Xenna35 DETILLEUX Emeline36 SEYNAVE Ilken37 CASASOLA Sara38 BORELLO Carlotta39 GARIBOLDI Rebecca40 BORGHESI Letizia41 SECCHI Giorgia42 RODRÍGUEZ Sofia43 GONZÁLEZ Lucía44 CUETO Sara45 GONZÁLEZ Alicia46 CARRIO Luna47 JIMENEZ Carla48 CARRIER Rafaelle49 KNOLL Nico50 VERKERK Katja51 PERRON Dorothee52 KELLY Siobhan53 MEGALE Anna54 CUSACK Lidia55 ASELTINE Mia56 SARKISOV Alyssa57 LOPEZ Vida58 SONNEMANN Lyllie59 SARKISOV Katherine60 SHIELDS Emily61 BOND Jorja62 VAS Blanka63 BRUCHNER Regina64 HEIGL Nadja65 LISBYGD Ann-Dorthe66 NIELSEN Mille Foldager67 CREES Xan68 KAY Anna69 REYNOLDS Alicia70 ESTERMANN Rebekka71 STERN Léa72 GLAUS Jana73 BARTHELS Maïté74 WENZEL Liv75 BARTHELS Layla76 CHLADOŇOVÁ Viktória