Antwerp round of ‘cross World Cup cancelled due to new COVID-19 crowd restrictions

It was all going so well, too. Next Sunday’s ninth round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Antwerp, Belgium is cancelled due to new COVID-19 crowd restrictions after a surge in cases and the new Omicron variant, according to a report in Dutch website Wielerflits. Christophe Impens of race organizer Golazo told Wielerflits that the race was off. It’s the first round of 16 in the 2021-2022 series to be cancelled. Last season five of fourteen rounds were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Golazo’s sticking point seems to be safety measures that would take away from the vibe of the event. Impens said, “After a thorough evaluation, the parties involved agreed that a full-fledged cross, such as the one in Antwerp. . . lives by the grace of the massive public turnout and ambiance. With the current measures, the World Cup cyclocross threatens to become only a faint imitation of this.”

Antwerp was supposed to be where Wout Van Aert and Tom Pidcock joined in on the World Cup fun for the first time this season. The next round scheduled is December 12 in Val di Sole, Italy, where Van Aert, Pidcock and Marianne Vos will be racing. Organizers of the Dec. 18 Rucphen round in the Netherlands, where Mathieu van der Poel and Pidcock will square off, have announced that their race will be run without fans.

Maghalie Rochette might well be disappointed, as she’s rolling. Her runner-up spot on Sunday in Besançon, France, was her best ever European World Cup result. Lucinda Brand and Eli Iserbyt added to their series leads with wins in Besançon.