How to watch World Cup Dendermonde cyclocross
Rivalries are heating up as a new venue makes its international debut
Photo by:
Nick Iwanyshyn.
The cyclocross kerstperiode is well underway for 2020, just as the major stars have returned to the sport. With rivalries heating up, in the men’s and women’s ranks, the World Cup is headed to a new venue on Sunday in Dendermonde.
As the holiday racing ramps up, you can follow it all from Canada on Flobikes.
On the men’s side, Mathieu van der Poel has traded wins with Wout van Aert and Thomas Pidock. While the Dutch phenom continues to rack up wins, the injection of new names has challenged van der Poel’s dominance of years past, making for one of the most exciting seasons in recent years.
For Canadian fans, Michael van den Ham is in Europe and picking up momentum of his own. The Canadian national champion made a late transatlantic trip to make the holiday racing, and will be looking for solid results.
Lucinda Brand is working hard to establish her own cyclocross dominance, just as van der Poel’s appears to be fading slightly. The Dutch rider has won eight of her last 11 starts. A quartet of Canucks are overseas for the elite women’s racing, including Ruby West, Sidney McGill and Siobhan Kelly. Maghalie Rochette is also in Belgium, quickly working back from an ankle injury earlier in December.
Dendermonde: There will be mud
While racers will face an entirely fresh course on Sunday, there are some hints at what they can expect. Namely, mud. Driving rain is in the forecast, which should make for thick mud and heavy attrition over the course of the race. Power will be the name of the game, or maybe running if the mud gets too thick. The other main feature is a six metre tall, multi=level ride up, just in case heavy legs weren’t tested enough by the persistent muck at ground level.
On Sunday, Dec. 27, Flobikes will start broadcasting the Dendermonde World Cup races at 7:20 a.m. EST.
