PREVIEW | Cyclocross World Cup Besançon 2024-2025 Men & Women - Favourites, Track, TV Guide & Poll

Round 8 of the 2024-2025 competition is the World Cup Besançon race. In France, the riders tackle an important track which will be the final World Cup race of the year 2024. Mathieu van der Poel and Fem van Empel will headline the races this weekend.

Very cold temperatures in France this weekend, barely reaching positive numbers, which should make it rather slow as there will be a lot of thaw all throughout the course Besançon features a track similar to some we've seen early in the season, with a grassy course with no running sections besides some stairs

Races should be tight once again, the men's one specially as the speeds should be so high that slipstreaming will have meaningful benefits. There is one tricky camber section towards the end of the lap that can cause problems, but it features many wide turns, with no real mud or sand as well present it should make for a thrilling explosive race.

*** Fem van Empel
** Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Lucinda Brand
* Marie Schreiber, Blanka Kata Vas, Zoe Bäckstedt

Prediction: Fem van Empel

A race that suits well Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, but still I think the wet grass will make the race slower and better for those who like the longer efforts. Fem van Empel has the ideal skillset to win here I reckon, she continues to have good form and should have enough confidence coming in to take the victory. Lucinda Brand will need a good start, unlike her usual ones, otherwise she may be trapped behind riders in the first lap and lose significant time in the technical circuit that she may not recover later on.

The youngsters I believe will be on the spotlight once again. Marie Schreiber won in Hulst and I expect her to be very strong here, definitely in the fight for the podium or more, specially taking into consideration how strong of a starter she is. Of course, Blanka Kata Vas and Zoe Bäckstedt follow closely behind. It is a race with a few absences but the Dutch come in with Marianne Vos who will be a very exciting prospect, we will discover how her form is into the CX season and if she can realistically aim for the World Championships.

Inge van der Heijden, Leonie Bentveld, Marion Norbert Riberolle, Sara Casasola, Kristyna Zemanová, Manon Bakker, Denise Betsema and the French riders (mostly Hélène Clauzel) can also realistically aim for a good result.

*** Mathieu van der Poel
** Laurens Sweeck, Niels Vandeputte
* Michael Vanthourenhout, Lars van der Haar, Toon Aerts

Prediction: Mathieu van der Poel

A circuit that features a lot of technical and fast sections, explosive ones too, and very little climbing... Mathieu van der Poel will take the win and it will likely be rather comfortable, more than what we've seen in Mol and Loenhout. Here he shouldn't really have a match. I believe Laurens Sweeck can replicate in this course the performances he's had in those two races. If so, a clear candidate for the number 2 spot.

A lot of riders follow around the same chances. After all, without van der Poel, this would be a race without a favourite. Niels Vandeputte is on the more explosive side, whilst Michael Vanthourenhout and Lars van der Haar will hope for it to be as difficult as possible. Eli Iserbyt is on my shortlist of favourites, I think the circuit is pretty ideal for him but it will take time until he is a reliable favourite for a top result.

In the fight for the World Cup Toon Aerts will be an important figure, I rate as well as Iserbyt. We've got Pim Ronhaar in the mix as well as other outsiders such as Joran Wyseure, Emiel Verstrynge, Jens Adams, Lander Loockx, Michael Boros, Felipe Orts, Kevin Kuhn, David Menut and Corne van Kessel to eye.

The women's race will start at 13:40 and end at around 14:30 local time. The men's race will start at 15:10 and end at 16:15 local time.

You can watch the broadcast of the race at the UCI website and Eurosport/Max internationally, as well as the traditional outlets. The channels which will broadcast the race will include Telenet Playsports and PickxSports (Belgium), L'Équipe TV (France); NOS (Netherlands); Ceská Televize (Czech Republic) and TV2 (Denmark).