The Cyclo-cross World Cup could become a bit more international in the coming years. Organizer Flanders Classics and the UCI are actively pushing for races in countries that previously didn’t often have their place in the season-long competition.
For now, the Cyclo-cross World Cup remains primarily a Belgian affair, with seven of the twelve races held on Belgian soil. The American races and the Italian Val di Sole was already overhauled last year, and now the Irish capital Dublin has been added to that list. However, this is not a deliberate decision by the organizers to race less abroad, but they have to carefully balance the situation to keep it manageable for the riders. There has been criticism several times over recent years.
“We have a lot of interesting courses lined up for the coming years, also in non-traditional cyclo-cross countries. We are hopeful that we can bring the World Cup there,” said Tomas Van Den Spiegel, the CEO of organizer Flanders Classics, in an interview with our website.
The organization already has some perfect locations in mind. “There is always interest from other time zones, let that be clear. But between interest and feasibility lie the challenge for us. Let’s say it will mainly involve some historic cyclo-cross countries, but also a few new ones.”
Van Den Spiegel partly refers to the costs for riders and teams, but also to the timing of those international races within the calendar itself. “You can’t just travel very far in the middle of the season, because the rest of the calendar then comes under pressure. If we do go to a distant location, it has to be a coherent story,” the businessman stated clearly.
