2026 Cyclocross World Championships - Startlist, Map, Favorites, how to watch live and on TV Mathieu van der Poel in the USA and UK

The cyclocross World Championships are here. This weekend, on the 31st of January and 1st of February, the world's best riders will be in Hulst competing for the rainbow jerseys throughout several events. Mathieu van der Poel has the chance to make history in a course he knows well, where he can conquer a record-breaking eighth rainbow jersey. We take a look at the startlist of the race; favourites; and where to watch it online, on TV, in the USA and UK.

Hulst is a course that is very technical, where its main features are tha banks close to the body of water that will be seen throughout the entire race, and also crossed on several occasions. It is an explosive track, but also one in which riders are almost forced to make their individual race, without tactics, as there are multiple running sections, as well as extremely technical features both up and downhill.

Right by the Belgian border, there are no heavy rain forecasts, but it may happen throughout the week, as well as some snowing. The track is not going to be dry, and likely as the weekend progresses it will become more and more technical as the races will create clear ruts for some of the technical sections.

The event will kick off on Friday, 30th January, with a Team Relay event which will start off at 13:35CET, where national teams will race with six riders, one rider from each category.

On the 31st of January, Saturday, the women's junior riders will begin their race at 11:05CET; the men's under-23 event will begin at 13:10CET and the women's elite race will take place from 15:10 to 16:00CET.

On the 1st of February, Sunday, the men's junior will kick off the action first starting off at 11:05CET; the women's under-23 event will start at 13:10CET and then the men's elite race will take place from 15:10 to 16:15CET.

The race will be broadcast on Eurosport and HBO Max/Discover+ as is usual, as well as the UCI's Youtube channel live. Furthermore this race will be broadcast in:

Not much to say regarding the men's event, as a victory for Mathieu van der Poel looks pretty certain. His biggest rival will be himself, but it is not a nervous van der Poel entering the worlds. Not only does he have the best legs, but also potentially the best technique, and this circuit does not allow anyone to just follow his wheel.

I don't believe he will be having direct rivals, but instead there will be a battle for the medals behind, with Tibor del Grosso being the great contender as it seems like an ideal circuit for his abilities, and his form is simply very good. Niels Vandeputte and Thibau Nys are likely the other two men who are most likely to fight for a medal taking into consideration the most recent races.

Joris Nieuwenhuis, Lars van der Haar, Mees Hendrikx, Ryan Kamp, Pim Ronhaar, Michael Vanthourenhout, Toon Aerts, Jente Michels, Gerben Kuypers, Felipe Orts, Kevin Kuhn, Filippo Fontana, Andrew Strohmeyer and Cameron Mason will be riders to watch.

The women's race features a tiny startlist, however it will be much more open than the men's event. Lucinda Brand would be the woman to beat on paper, but her continuous schedule throughout the winter, despite having most of her goals acomplished already for some time, now seems to have been a bad decision. She underperformed in Maasmechelen, a similarly technical and explosive circuit to that of Hulst, and skipped Hoogerheide. We do not know what legs the World Cup winner will have; but after missing out on both European and national titles, the season's dominator may also lose the World title if she doesn't have her best day.

Her compatriots Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado but mainly Puck Pieterse seem to be the main favourites to win the rainbow jersey, as the course will not be based much on long sustained efforts where Brand thrives in. But they are far from the only contenders to take the gold medal, as I would add Amandine Fouquenet also to that list of possible winners.

When it comes to medals there are plenty other names who could make the list. Zoe Bäckstedt and Blanka Kata Vas for example have only briefly raced, but could certainly be in the fight for the win. Kristyna Zemanová is in the same position and after finishing second in Hoogerheide, she could even potentially achieve more...

There are Aniek van Alphen, Inge van der Heijden and Sara Casasola who each started off the season brilliantly; Shirin van Anrooij, Manon Bakker, Marion Nonrbert Riberolle, Jollanda Neff and also Marie Schreiber who is the most recent winner on this track.