The last-minute decision by three-time cyclo-cross world champion Wout van Aert (Belgium) to participate in this weekend's World Championships in Liévin, France, has sent the cycling world into a frenzy. The big duel with Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), who is chasing a seventh world title, instantly increased ticket sales by 2,500 and naturally also increased media attention.
With the addition of Van Aert, the Belgian team's chances of winning gold have also increased, as the team also includes overall World Cup winner Michael Vanthourenhout, European champion Thibau Nys and Eli Iserbyt. Van der Poel remains the big favorite, having won all seven starts this winter, including five World Cup stages, and both starts against van Aert.
85% of the course is on grass (read: dirt, because Thursday's heavy rain made the course very soft and a section was closed for training) and there are no long running sections. Belgium head coach Angelo De Clercq said the more difficult conditions favored van Aert, who was forced to start from the third row based on the results. "We have to make sure that van Aert gets to the front as quickly as possible from the third row," he added.
Today, the World Championships featured a mixed relay, with Great Britain winning gold, followed by Italy and France. The women's competition will be on Saturday and the men's on Sunday.
The first 📹 of the #Lievin2025 at race pace 💨
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) January 31, 2025
Muddy conditions after a lot of rain yesterday but let's see how the course changes over the weekend 🤔
📍 2025 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships pic.twitter.com/m80BHcWtHu
