Last season, the cyclo-cross season started on September 18, when Fem van Empel and Michael Vanthourenhout managed to take the lead in Kruibeke. How different will it be in the winter of 2023/2024, when the first cyclo-cross race for the Dutch team is scheduled for October 8 in Beringen. Dutch cyclocross national coach Gerben de Knegt talked about cyclocross and gravel with In de Leiderstrui.
"I think it is a good thing that the cross season starts a little later, because in recent years you have seen a tendency for crosses to take place in August and September. There was no media attention for that anyway. For me, the cross season can easily start in October," De Knegt sees positives about the start of the cyclocross season being delayed.
As a Dutch selector, he also has a small say in the gravel, but in his opinion that discipline has little overlap with cyclo-cross. "Gravel and cross are completely different endeavors. We can award twenty wildcards, for example Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten are also participating this year. But gravel is still in its infancy. It certainly has potential, but you now also see that a few weeks before the World Championships, that organization is suddenly being changed. All participants in the Gravel World Championships do so at their own expense."
However De Knegt still sees that the sport could use more funding. "That major sponsor is still not there, but the balanced budget is better than last year. Last year it was about that organizing party, when I said that we didn't have the money to let everyone stay and eat, because I could also spend that money on a trip to Benidorm with the juniors. That was ultimately a sporting decision. The finances can still be better, if anyone knows of a major sponsor they can call me."
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