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Editors’ picks for cyclocross worlds: The Mathieu van der Poel show and a wide open women’s race

There is a clear favourite in the men's race at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships but it's harder to pick between the top women

On Feb. 2 to 3 in Bogense, Denmark the world’s top cyclocross racers gather for two days of racing for rainbows. First up on Saturday are the junior men, under-23 men and elite women. Sunday sees the under-23 women and elite men take to the exposed course that runs along the sea on the Danish island of Funen. It promises to be an exciting weekend of racing with unpredictable cold and damp weather forecast which could see some snow on the course over the weekend. That doesn’t mean our editors won’t try and predict who will win the rainbow jersey:

RELATED: Watch live: 2019 UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Bogense, Denmark

Terry McKall – Web editor Canadian MTB

It’s hard to bet against Mathieu van der Poel after his phenomenal season. Who could imagine him being so dominant during a regular season, only to not win at worlds? Wout van Aert, for one. The Belgian may not beat his perennial rival much in the regular season but, when it comes to worlds, he seems to have van der Poel’s number. Should van Aert pull off the upset again in Bogense, he might start to make the Dutch rider look more like the Vancouver Canucks in their ‘prime’, consistent but never there when it matters, than a star with bad luck.

Sanne Cant
Sanne Cant

Another Belgian who knows how to win when it matters is Sanne Cant. The reigning world champion hasn’t been as dominant this year as she has been in the past, but she’s been present at the front every race since the World Cup returned from its visit to America. The potential for a showdown between Lucinda Brand and Marianne Vos, who Cant scored a memorable victory over at Bieles in 2017, could give Cant an advantage.

Maghalie Rochette hasn’t been having a great European campaign so far, with illness and crashes slowing the Canadian champion down. But Rochette is another rider with that knack for pulling out big performances at important races. Her #CXFever carried her to fifth in Bieles, where she landed the best ever world champs finish for a Canadian in the elite race. When Pan-Am champs landed in Canada, Rochette performed under pressure, taking the continental title for the home crowd. It’ll be tough, but it’s still possible for the Canadian to turn fever back into CX Fever for one day in Denmark.

Dan Walker – Social media editor

The only one who’s been pushing van der Poel all year is Toon Aert. With Van der Poel’s mental foibles around the world champs, he looks like the only rider who’s primed to take advantage of the opportunity.

World Cup winner Toon Aerts

Nobody has been on better form than Dutch champ Lucinda Brand as of late. I can’t think of any reason that won’t continue into the world’s race this Saturday. She has the remarkable ability to seemingly come out of nowhere and hit the front of the race. Should you dare leave the couch to grab a cup of coffee you risk missing her race-changing move.

Tune into this week’s full send/ no send segment on the CCM podcast for the explanation of why I think Brand will be the top Canadian at world’s.

Rob Sturney – Web contributor

Van der Poel‘s dominance is going to carry through Sunday, even though I’d love to see Toon Aerts win the World Cup/World Championships double. van der Poel is a force of nature.

Lucinda Brand
Lucinda Brand

In the elite women’s race, Brand is going to prevail. Sunweb’s ace took three World Cups and looks on form for Denmark. Maghalie Rochette is the sole Canadian in the elite women’s race and I expect a top-20 on Saturday.
Watch Ruby West take a top-10 place in the U23 women’s race, a championship that will go to Dutch rider Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado who was born in the Dominican-Republic, the revelation of the 2018-2019 World Cup.

Matthew Pioro – Editor

I’m on record, on the podcast, for picking Mathieu van der Poel, although hesitantly. In a way, I feel that picking MvdP to win the world championships is like picking Nairo Quintana to win the Tour de France in, say, 2016: a strong and obvious pick. But unlike Quintana’s winless-at-the-Tour streak, van der Poel has won a CX world champs, back in 2015. He simply hasn’t delivered on world championship race day since then. So, picking MvdP for worlds in 2019 could also be like picking Quintana for the Tour in 2019: a little ambitious based on past results. I hope that’s not the case. I’m going with Mathieu.

Mathieu van der Poel

On the women’s side, I simply don’t know. Most women’s races I watch as I make breakfast for my family. I’ll check in during the early laps, and then focus on cooking. When I tune back in, the race has usually changed up. I say to my four-year-old daughter, “Holy cow! What happened?!” Her reports are sketchy at best. I’m going to pick Marianne Vos. Except for Koksijde, she’s been consistently on the podium all season. I think that in Bogense, Denmark, the strong and savvy rider will outfox the competition. (See what I did there?)

Philippe Tremblay – Web editor

Picking someone else than Mathieu van der Poel to win the elite men’s race is sheer folly. He’s been exposed three years in a row for being fragile when it comes to winning the rainbow stripes but the Bogense course requires a powerful rider because it has a lot of pedalling and there is no one in cyclocross as strong right now. Also, he rode the ridiculously steep hill on the course at the Bogense World Cup last year so he’ll be confident come Sunday.

Women's cyclocross
Marianne Vos on the top step of the World Cup overall podium

Marianne Vos was once unstoppable. She’s regaining some of that swagger this cyclocross season and while she’s been beaten on numerous occasions this season, I think she will take her eighth world cyclocross title on the Bogense course against an otherwise a wide-open field, but it won’t come easy.

Canada has an interesting team in Bogense but I think Pan-Am champion Maghalie Rochette has something to prove to herself in this race. Her European season has been turbulent and she was sick last week in Hoogerheide. I think that will remove some of the pressure from her shoulders and allow her to race alongside the best. If she’s recovered from her illness a top-10 isn’t out of the question.