How to watch
In the morning, there will be junior races for the women (start at 10:00CET) and men (start at 12:00CET). In the beginning of the afternoon, 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:
BelgiumTelenet PlaySports & Pickx+ Sports & RTBFUnited StatesFloBikesCanadaFloBikesUnited KingdomTNT SportsFranceL’ÉquipeTVNetherlandsNOSCzech RepublicCeská TeleviseItalyRaiPlayDenmarkTV2 DanmarkSlovakiaRTV: Sport SlovakiaSpainRTVEHungaryM4-SportMen’s race
The Christmas block begins here and almost 100 riders will be at the start line in Antwerp, it will be a different race and spectacle for the spectators. Mathieu van der Poel won in Namur last week with a strong yet not dominant display, but will be the man to beat here in the sand. Wout van Aert makes his return to cyclocross today, and both may still suffer from their lack of racing in a course that is very technical.
Thibau Nys is in the lead of the World Cup; in a close fight for second place are Michael Vanthourenhout, Joris Niewenhuis, Laurens Sweeck, Niels Vandeputte and Lars van der Haar. All will be present.
The Dutch also have Tibor del Grosso, Pim Ronhaar and Ryan Kamp to feature near the front; the Belgian have Toon Aerts, Emiel Verstrynge, Joran Wyseure, Jente Michels and Toon Vandebosch…
From the other nations we’ve got Felipe Orts for Spain, Kevin Kuhn for Switzerland, no Cameron Mason but instead Thomas Mein for Great Britain, Andrew Strohmeyer headlining USA’s large team, Filippo Agostinacchio for Italy, Michael Boros for the Czech Republic, and many more…
Startlist Men World Cup AntwerpNumberRider1Mathieu van der Poel2Joris Nieuwenhuis3Lars van der Haar4Pim Ronhaar5Tibor Del Grosso6Ryan Kamp7Mees Hendrikx8Danny van Lierop9Remon Delnoije10Max Rijvers11Jelte Jochems12Michael Vanthourenhout13Thibau Nys14Niels Vandeputte15Toon Aerts16Laurens Sweeck17Emiel Verstrynge18Joran Wyseure19Wout van Aert20Jente Michels21Toon Vandebosch22Witse Meeussen25Stan Van Grieken26Fabian Maes27Martin Groslambert28Nathan Bommenel29Rémi Lelandais30Matéo Jot32Nathan Dos Reis Graca33Felipe Orts Lloret34Mario Junquera San Millan35Gonzalo Inguanzo Macho36Kevin Suarez Fernandez37Raul Mira Bonastre38Unax Galan Cortazar39Javier Zaera Gisbert40Marcos Gomez Vega41Kevin Kuhn42Lars Sommer43Loris Rouiller44Nicolas Bard45Nicolas Halter46Thomas Mein47Andrew Strohmeyer48Jules Van Kempen49Dylan Zakrajsek50Ryan Drummond51Henry Coote52Noah Shelton53Frederick Junge54Carden King55Finn Westover56Nikolas Milanovic57Luca Harter58Lukas Herrmann59Silas Kuschla60Matteo Oberteicher61Florian Hamm62Michael Gaßner63Robin Rautzenberg64Tyler Clark65Cody Scott66Rhett Bates67Liam Sargent68Remi Brisebois69Gioele Bertolini70Federico Ceolin71Filippo Fontana72Samuele Scappini73Filippo Agostinacchio74Lorenzo De Longhi75Alan Zanolini76Michael Boroš77Vaclav Jezek78Matyas Fiala79Maximilian Kerl80Lukáš Kristl81Hijiri Oda82Kosuke Endo83Tetsuki Kaji84Yuta Okayama85Bailey Groenendaal86Karl-Erik Rosendahl87Jonas Posselt Gamborg88Zsombor Takács89Dries Bruynseels90David Risberg91Vilmar Aastrup92Philipp Heigl93Loïc Bettendorff94Lennox Papi95Dovydas Luksas96Artur Nichvolodov97Jacob TurnerWomen’s race
The women’s race will still miss Fem van Empel, who has this Friday announced a pause on her career. The World Champion may have ended her season, and with this, it’s clear track for Lucinda Brand to continue to dominate. After she skipped the Flamanville World Cup she lost the lead of the World Cup but will be the main favourite to win and has only one point disadvantage over Aniek van Alphen. Van Alphen has been racing a stupendous season and should be up there.
The Dutch have Inge van der Heijden, Manon Bakker, Leonie Bentveld, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Shirin van Anrooij, Annemarie Worst and Puck Pieterse (the last four with late starts to the season); The French will have two incredibly talented riders in Célia Gery and Amandie Fouquenet (second in Koppenbergcross and fourth at World Cup respectively). Belgium has Marion Norbert Riberolle as its headliner, Italy has Sara Casasola, the USA sees its national champion Lizzy Gunsalus make her European debut this winter whilst the British have Xan Crees and Anna Kay at the start.
Kristyna Zemanová of the Czech Republic is a woman to watch, Jolanda Neff of Switzerland is an absolute wildcard and interesting rider to follow in a less mountainous course, and Luxembourg has the youngster Marie Schreiber. Over 80 riders will be at the start.
Startlist Women World Cup AntwerpNumberRider2Lucinda Brand3Inge van der Heijden4Aniek van Alphen5Manon Bakker6Puck Pieterse7Leonie Bentveld8Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado9Denise Betsema10Larissa Hartog11Lauren Molengraaf12Annemarie Worst14Shirin van Anrooij15Bloeme Kalis17Amandine Fouquenet18Hélène Clauzel19Célia Gery20Amandine Muller21Electa Gallezot22Perrine Clauzel23Alexandra Valade26Marion Norbert Riberolle27Julie Brouwers28Laura Verdonschot29Jinse Peeters30Kiona Crabbé31Sterre Vervloet32Shanyl De Schoesitter33Sanne Laurijssen34Fleur Moors35Nette Coppens36Lotte Baele37Ilken Seynave38Sara Casasola39Carlotta Borello40Rebecca Gariboldi41Lucia Bramati42Ilaria Tambosco43Giorgia Secchi44Gaia Santin45Nadia Casasola46Sofia Rodriguez Revert47Lucia Gonzalez Blanco48Sara Cueto Vega49Ana Lopez Burgos50Alicia Gonzalez Blanco51Luna Carrio Hernandez52Sidney McGill53Maghalie Rochette54Rafaelle Carrier55Nico Knoll56Katja Verkerk57Dorothee Perron58Maja Jozkowicz59Lizzy Gunsalus60Lidia Cusack61Lauren Zoerner62Mia Aseltine63Alyssa Sarkisov64Lyllie Sonnemann65Jorja Bond66Regina Bruchner67Kaija Budde68Diana Steffenhagen69Friederike Michels70Julia-Katharina Pfeil71Katharina Hinz72Nadja Heigl73Mille Nielsen74Kristýna Zemanová75Anna Panušová76Kateřina Hladíkova77Veronika Sedláčková78Xan Crees79Anna Kay80Lea Stern81Rebekka Estermann82Jolanda Neff83Jana Glaus84Marie Schreiber85Maïté Barthels86Liv Wenzel87Layla Barthels88Nina Berton