Revised route in Benidorm is an improvement, but doubts remain over 2031 world championship plan

The course change that Benidorm implemented for the World Cup route has received positive feedback from the cyclocross peloton. A majority of the racers and their support teams are pleased with the renewed route, which includes the finish on an uphill section. With the ambition to bring the Cyclocross World Championships to Benidorm in 2031, the organizers wanted to make some modifications. Whether the course is truly World Championship-worthy remains somewhat uncertain. WielerFlits conducted a survey.

Benidorm once again overflowed with cyclocross fans on Sunday. The many Spanish supporters mingled on the city circuit with Flemish and Dutch spectators, including many older fans who already spend their winters on the Spanish coast. Also, many road cyclists and staff members from road teams had traveled to Benidorm. The Costa Blanca is a popular destination for WorldTeams and ProTeams, especially in January. The training camps were gladly interrupted for an afternoon of cyclocross in the winter sun.

This resulted in a turnout of over 15,000 spectators on Sunday afternoon who witnessed Mathieu van der Poel and Lucinda Brand claim victory.

In recent years, Benidorm has become a staple on the cyclocross calendar, but some critical voices came from the peloton: too much single track (and thus little opportunity to overtake), too fast, sometimes still a risk of punctures on the gravel, not selective enough... These complaints did not fall on deaf ears, as the organizers intervened. The core of the course in Foietes city park and El Moralet forest park remained, but the organizers wanted to make the route more challenging.

The start-finish was placed on the sloping section, shortly after a flight of stairs. It was there that Mathieu van der Poel blew everyone away in 2024 with a decisive acceleration. "The other change is a big surprise: the old finishing stretch has turned into a sand trap more than 100 meters long and 6 meters wide, making riders fight a little extra each lap," the organizers announced. And how did these changes work out this year?

"Not much has changed," said Alpecin-Premier Tech leader Mathieu van der Poel immediately after his reconnaissance. "Except for that start-finish, which they did well. That was a dangerous spot in recent years. As for the sand trap, it’s a shame that so much effort went into it because it’s just become a hard path."

"That sand trap? The idea is very nice, but the execution is unfortunately less so. There was already a path there, so it’s not much of a sand trap anymore," laughed Tibor Del Grosso. Lucinda Brand also chuckled. "Everyone was afraid of it, but it’s quite hard. That’s not exactly what the organizers hoped for, but I’m never really a fan of artificial obstacles anyway."

New start-finish offers space: "We don’t often get an uphill finish"
There was also positive feedback about the new start zone, at the bottom of the hill. It was wider and significantly longer than the previous start and finish stretch; the start phase until 2025 was short, and the final ‘straight line’ came after a technical section. "You have more time to get into position at the start," said Lucinda Brand. Her team manager Sven Nys agreed: "It’s more spread out, you create more space, also for overtaking."

According to Niels Vandeputte, the new start-finish is working well too. "The old start zone was really short and that was not ideal, but now you have a nice start and then you go straight into the forest. Whether that’s ideal, I don’t know, but it’s a unique course and I like coming here."

As mentioned, after the finish riders immediately turned right into the forest, where it narrowed, but this caused no issues in the elite categories. The uphill finish really made riders push hard. "I think the finish is placed in a beautiful spot," says Nys Sr. "Where in the past it was hard to see something special at the finish, now you get space. We also don’t see uphill finishes very often, so that’s really nice."

Is it a World Championship-worthy course?
"I don’t know exactly what World Championship-worthy means, but it would still be an atypical Worlds course. There have been quite a few of those," responded Del Grosso. Jan Boven was present as team director at Visma | Lease a Bike. He hears various opinions from the cyclocross world. "Many people ask: why go here? I really like that we’re here and that Benidorm is truly different. You shouldn’t have that every week, but you also don’t want a cross every week like Dendermonde or Gavere."

"Every course has its strengths. And yes, maybe it’s an easier course, but even then someone has to cross the line first," said Boven. Should it be more selective, he wonders. "It’s like on the road: it always has to get harder and harder. But I think it’s nice if someone like Dylan Groenewegen can become world champion once. But it needs to be a mix. This course has its unique character."

Joris Nieuwenhuis noticed another change. "They also placed the barriers in a difficult spot, and overall this course is definitely better," said the Dutchman. "I hope they can improve some small things. Sometimes a bit wider, or maybe extend the course somewhere. In recent years it was always a sprint uphill and seeing who got to the top first, and that rider was also first down..."

"This is definitely an improvement," agrees Aniek van Alphen about the changes. "It’s good to have some adjustments sometimes. The course wasn’t very spectacular, but they did their best. It’s tougher, but it remains fast."

Quite a crowd at a crossing: the public has many directions to move in Benidorm - photo: WielerFlits