Joris Nieuwenhuis and Felipe Orts headline brand new CX team Ridley Racing

In recent seasons, the battle over cyclocross throne shrinked to a mickey-mouse battle between Baloise - Trek Lions and Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal. That is when the three kings - Mathieu van der Poel, Wout Van Aert and Tom Pidcock are not present. Here and there, outlier results from Alpecin-Deceuninck's riders shook up the standings but besides that - the results were rather monotone.

That might hopefully change with an arrival of brand new cyclocross formation which aspires for no less than top ranks. Yes, the team is once again Belgian (sighs), but their leaders, both with vast experience from racing on road, hail from Netherlands and Spain.

Joris Nieuwenhuis

The Dutch champion Joris Nieuwenhuis doesn't require much of an introduction. After four years of racing at Team DSM, Nieuwenhuis made a switch back to cyclocross with Baloise - Trek Lions for 2022/23 season.

The first season back in the mud went far from what the Dutch rider hoped for, but he never gave up. The hard work started to bear fruits last winter when the 28-year-old became a reliable top-5 finisher in World Cup races, winning the snowy round in Val di Sole. But perhaps his stand out result was silver medal at the World Championships, losing only to phenomenal compatriot Van der Poel.

After the season has ended, it became clear that Nieuwenhuis and team manager Sven Nys were far from agreeing on the form of their further collaboration, leading to a mutual agreement to terminate Nieuwenhuis' contract. Since then, there was a speculation that rather than joining another formation, Nieuwenhuis would lay a founding stone to a brand new team - Ridley Racing Team.

Team

Leaving top-team Baloise - Trek Lions inevitably means that Nieuwenhuis will lose some of team power he could rely on with colleagues such as Thibau Nys and Pim Ronhaar. However his new teammates at Ridley Racing Team are no rookies either

This winter, Dutch and Spanish CX champions will join forces as Felipe Orts plans to confirm himself as a rider to count in the battle for top placings. Having left his stint at Burgos BH behind, Orts steadily worked his way up to becoming a respected top-10 finisher in the biggest races, including European and World Championships (9th and 10th respectively) and World Cup races (8th in Benidorm and 9th in Hoogerheide).

With head sponsor Ridley, it's clear the new team will be based in Belgium and therefore the last two spots on lineup are occupied by home riders Daan Soete and the first lady in the team - young Lore Sas.