The first big match-up of the cyclocross season for the reigning World Champion Tom Pidcock and past winners Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert is expected to come on November 27 at the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Hulst.
Pidcock said he would debut his rainbow jersey this season at the Superprestige round in Merksplas on November 19. According to organizer Kurt Vernimmen, Mathieu van der Poel, and Wout van Aert are due to join Pidcock at the start in Hulst.
"I have spoken to the managers of Mathieu and Wout and they have said that they will come, but you never know for sure. They can suddenly have other obligations, but we assume that they will appear at the start," Vernimmen said according to a report in Omroep Zeeland.
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The trio filled the podium when Hulst held their first World Cup in 2021, with Van der Poel taking the win ahead of Van Aert and Pidcock. Last January, Pidcock took the win, Van Aert was fourth and Van der Poel was out with a knee injury.
Should the three 'cross titans clash in Hulst along with other top riders like World Cup leader Eli Iserbyt and his Bingoal-Pauwels Sauzen teammate Michael Vanthourenhout and Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek), they'll have an early day of it.
The Hulst World Cup will not follow its normal schedule of the elite men and women racing in the afternoon because of a FIFA World Cup match between Belgium and Morocco that takes place at 2:00 p.m. local time on the same day.
The elite women will start at 11:00 a.m. (CET) with elite men following at 12:15 p.m., while the junior and under-17s will race in the afternoon.
"Normally you have the youth first and then at the end of the afternoon the pros with the women and men and then the party, but the cycling associations and the Belgian TV channel Sporza have decided this way," Vernimmen said.
On the plus side, the race will move to the centre of Hulst rather than being held in Perkplolder, where the last two editions were held without spectators because of the coronavirus pandemic. The race this month will be a preview of what to expect when Hulst hosts the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in 2026.
