UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships 2023

UCI Cyclocross World Championships 2023 overview

When are the UCI Cyclocross World Championships: February 3-5, 2023

Where are the UCI Cyclocross World Championships: Hoogerheide, Netherlands

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The latest results from the UCI Cyclocross World Championships 2023

Mathieu van der Poel sprints past Wout van Aert to clinch fifth Cyclocross Worlds crown

Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) outsprinted rival Wout van Aert (Belgium) at the end of 10 laps and a tense 67 minutes of racing win the elite men's race at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide. Van Aert, who described almost forgetting his final sprint, settled for second for the fourth time.

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Day 3: Mathieu van der Poel sprints past Wout van Aert to clinch fifth Cyclocross World Championships crown

Day 3: Dominant Van Anrooij wins U23 women's title at Cyclocross World Championships

Day 3: Léo Bisiaux scores junior men's title at Cyclocross World Championships

Day 2: Fem van Empel storms to elite women's title at Cyclocross World Championships

Day 2: Thibau Nys takes solo win in U23 men's race at Cyclocross Worlds

Day 2: Isabella Holmgren wins junior women's cyclocross world title

Day 1: Netherlands take home victory in team relay at 2023 Cyclo-cross World Championships

UCI Cyclocross World Championships 2023 information

After a year's hiatus from the UCI Cyclocross World Championships, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) will revive their long-time rivalry in the elite men's race after seven straight seasons of trading rainbow jerseys.

In 2022, it was Tom Pidcock who claimed the title in their absence, but now the Briton is the one missing Worlds, choosing instead to focus on preparing for the Classics with his road team Ineos Grenadiers.

Van der Poel has four titles to Van Aert's three, and despite the two riders racing a limited cyclocross campaign, they've dominated almost every race they've entered. Van Aert has been the most consistent this season, never finishing lower than second and winning nine races. His four defeats of 13 starts have been to Van der Poel (Antwerp, Gavere, Herentals and Benidorm).

Van der Poel, meanwhile, has six wins and 12 total podium finishes, only missing the top three in the snowy Val di Sole World Cup and his second race of the season in Boom.

Neither rider leads the UCI rankings - that honour goes to World Cup overall winner Laurens Sweeck (Creland-Fristads) who has had a standout season. But Sweeck and the other full-time racers, European champion Michael Vanthourenhout and Bingoal-Pauwels Sauzen teammate Eli Iserbyt have paled in comparison to the two titans.

The elite women's field has also been lopsided this year, but rather than the established stars it has been the under-23 riders who have newly stepped up to the elites that have dominated.

Fem van Empel (Jumbo-Visma) claimed the most victories this season with 13, Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was second with nine, and Van Anrooij had six, and between them, the three riders took all of the World Cup victories.

It might have been a different season if 2021 World Champion Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek) hadn't broken her hand before Tabor, or if defending champion Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) wasn't struggling with an obstructed artery in her abdomen, but few riders have been able to challenge Van Empel, Pieterse and Van Anrooij.

From the other fields, new champions will be crowned for the juniors and under-23 women since the 2022 winners Zoe Bäckstedt, Jan Christen and Pieterse have moved up one category. Only under-23 men's Joran Wyseure (Belgium) will return to defend in the same category.

Bäckstedt would have been the main favourite for under-23 women, had Van Anrooij not opted to remain in that category. A fourth place in the Besançon World Cup behind Pieterse, Annemarie Worst and Inge van der Heijden showed the Briton's class. However, she has come up short against Van Anrooij, two years her senior, this season.

In the junior men's field, all bets are off. France's Léo Bisiaux, Belgian champion Viktor Vandenberghe and compatriots Seppe Van den Boer and Yordi Corsus, Dutchman Guus van den Eijnden and even American AJ August - winner of the Koppenbergcross - are all contenders.

The junior women's field is equally unpredictable although Dutch rider Lauren Molengraaf, Belgian Fleur Moors and Canada's Isabella Holmgren are solid bets.

For under-23 men, expect Thibau Nys (Belgium) to go for broke and be challenged by Besançon winner Tibor Del Grosso (Netherlands) and, should he falter, any of his Belgian teammates.

In the team relay, the Dutch have the cards stacked in their favour with Fem van Empel and Ryan Kamp along with Van den Eijnden, Leonie Bentveld and Molengraaf and Del Grosso.

The races

The 2023 UCI Cyclocross World Championships begin Friday, February 3, with the first title run for the Team Relay, which was put on as a test event in Fayetteville last year. The Italians claimed the victory in 2022 and return with bib #1 in a slightly different format, with teams of six riders (three men, three women) instead of four.

In the Cyclocross Team Relay, riders each complete one lap of the course and enter a relay zone, where they must touch the next rider before they can start their lap. Teams can choose the order of their riders, with the team represented by one rider from each category: Men/Women Junior, Under-23 and Elite.

At least five countries must participate in order for world titles to be awarded. This season, 10 teams have registered: Italy, USA, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Poland, Great Britain, France, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Races for Junior Women, Under-23 Men and Elite Women take place on Saturday, February 4, while Junior Men, Under-23 Women and Elite Men duke it out in Hoogerheide on Sunday, February 5.

The route

The Hoogerheide course is a classic, having hosted UCI Cyclocross World Cup rounds almost every year since 2003 except when the World Championships were held there in 2009 and 2014.

Read more about the UCI Cyclocross World Championship course in Hoogerheide.

The stakes

Prize money is equal for men and women at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships. The team relay awards rainbow jerseys and €15000 for first, €7500 for second and €3750 for third.

The top three in the elite race earn €5000, €2500 and €1250. Under-23s earn  €2500, €1250 and €675. Juniors take home €1250, €675 and €340.

The UCI Cyclocross World Championships will be broadcast live around Europe and the rest of the world – you can find out how to watch the race wherever you are with our handy guide and with ExpressVPN.

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