"Does it still make sense to watch?" - Roger De Vlaeminck believes we may as well hand Mathieu van der Poel Cyclocross World Championship victory now given snubs by Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock
Cyclocross
Both Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock are set to skip the 2024 Cyclocross World Championships. For Roger De Vlaeminck this discredits the whole race and he believes Mathieu van der Poel may be given the win already.
“The winner is known, right,” De Vlaeminck tells Het Nieuwsblad. “One hundred percent certain, because what is left of the competition is second-rate. Sorry to say it like that, but the rest is clearly less, everyone knows that. Eli Iserbyt, Michael Vanthourenhout and Thibau Nys then ride for second place. Does it still make sense to watch? I'll still be sitting in front of my TV, especially because Van der Poel is my favorite rider, but that won't be of any use to people, right? ”
Whilst obviously, the choice is ultimately down to the riders, De Vlaeminck simply doesn't understand why they would skip the World Championships. "It is Pidcock's right to focus on mountain biking, but the Games are not until August," he says. "The fact that Van Aert does not start is even more incomprehensible because he has a better chance of winning. But yes, that is also in the head, isn't it.”
“In my opinion, that makes little difference compared to the classics. Van der Poel became world champion in the field last year and what did he do afterwards? He won Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix. In my opinion, Van Aert must do more in the run-up to his big goals,” he concludes. "Ride more crosses and make more kilometres. He shouldn't believe me, but if he has to play the role again in the final of the Tour of Flanders, I will be right again."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
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"It's great to see the fans again. These races are always special for me." 🤩 Read more about @WoutvanAert's cyclocross program in the article below! 👇
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