"I think the ideal number would be between ten and twelve races" - Peter Van den Abeele discusses possible changes in the World Cup schedule

The format of the cyclocross World Cup has been a hot topic since the start of this season. First voices have already spoken ill about the expensive trip overseas for the Waterloo World Cup, but the unsustainability of the now fourteen races strong regularity competition, which essentially serves as qualifiers for the World Championships later in the season, became clear after some carefree statements from the UCI president David Lappartient.

Talking to WielerFlits, UCI's Peter Van den Abeele talks about the possibility of reduction of the World Cup calendar. "The rights lie in the hands of Flanders Classics. They have invested an amount related to those fourteen rounds. If it were decided to do fewer races, you would first have to talk to them about the financial picture. And we are currently working on that."

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"Everyone has a certain opinion, but at the end of the day it is up to us to filter together with Flanders Classics. Normally the new calendar is always announced at the World Championships. That will not be the case in Tábor now. We will mainly have to debate there about the number of races," he cotinues.

"Well, what is the ideal number? I don't know, between ten and twelve, I think. But when there were barely six rounds a few seasons ago - three of which were in Belgium and two in the Netherlands - there was also criticism. We did everything we could to revive the ranking and make it the most prestigious ranking again. But suddenly there were too many heats, which many thought was not good."

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