For now, riders are not allowed to train on the course of the Belgian Cyclocross Championship in Beringen. The official course reconnaissance scheduled for Wednesday afternoon has also been canceled for the time being, in consultation between Belgian Cycling and organizer Golazo. They expect to be able to offer a safe course by the weekend.
On the mine spoil tip in Beringen, the 'tricky' descents have led to this decision. "Quite a bit of ice has formed there due to snow and freezing temperatures over the past weeks. Because riders have been training on the course, some tracks have been made on those descents. These tracks are now frozen, covered with some snow, and as a result, the tracks are no longer visible," explains course designer Erwin Vervecken.
"That makes it fairly dangerous to train there at the moment," he points out. Vervecken emphasizes that only training sessions are affected. "I hear it will be 7 degrees Celsius this weekend. That will bring a thaw, and everything will be fine. We’re not worried at this moment and will be able to race on this course."
Descents safer than before
Beringen features a climbing course that is usually raced (as part of the Exact Cross) during the dry month of October, and even then, the circuit sometimes caused a stir with descents that were on the edge. Especially in the 2023 edition, many riders spoke out about a particular descent section. "Those complaints were justified back then. But we also listened after some crashes occurred during the first edition on that specific descent."
"First of all, we made the descent less steep by angling it more. That reduces the speed," says Vervecken. "Secondly, the municipal services dug a sort of ledge (path, ed.) in the descent. In principle, that should be better. But a lot depends on weather conditions. Such a section could pose risks in a national championship, and that’s what we wanted to avoid."
No course reconnaissance?
According to Vervecken, a safe course awaits the riders. Whether there will be an opportunity for a course reconnaissance, he cannot say. "But that’s not a problem. It’s not a completely new circuit. In most cyclocross races, riders usually do a few laps right before the start anyway, which will be possible and should suffice. I understand that riders want to visualize it on Wednesday, but this is not a disaster."
