"Mathieu and Wout coming back is also a factor" - British champion Cameron Mason looks to make the most before 'big 2' return to cyclocross

Cameron Mason has started off the cyclocross season strongly and before Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel make their return, he still has a few opportunities to hit big. The Briton has been close, but a resurgence and a new training strategy over the summer might trigger his best level.

"Mathieu and Wout coming back is also a factor… they'll probably be back racing in December," Mason said in words to CyclingWeekly. "Even without them the depth of the elite riders is pretty apparent this year [but] I don't have any doubts that I can be there on the right day."

Van Aert is set to be at Visma's training camp in Spain from the 8th to 20th of December whilst Mathieu van der Poel, albeit unclear at this point, should also be in the Costa Blanca - where he lives - until the Christmas period. It seems quite certain both will make a return in around a certain month. This leaves the Tabor, Flamanville, Terralba and Namur World Cups at the very least for the purists such as Mason; whilst the Superprestige and X2O Badkamers Trofee, each, will not have any race until the block now.

And Mason is going to be in the mix. He's finished second on the Koppenbergcross and Hamme races, both counting for the X2O Trofee in which he is currently second in the standings. Furthermore he has finished in the Top5 of three other races including the Middelkerke European Championships. "There's a good 10 or 15 of us who can podium, race-in, race-out. And that depth is what's making things so interesting," the Briton believes.

Mason's performance at the Europeans was a positive surprise for a rider who usually struggled in the sand. But that is not so surprising upon the reveal that he has worked on gaining muscle and weight since the previous season, and is not as much of a climber solely anymore. "Since March, I've gained five kilos – I went from being 62kg to 67kg,. And my power values in every time frame have increased massively."

This might be what is making the difference for the 25-year old, who attempted a different strategy in 2024 that did not end up paying off: "I think I probably stalled a little bit last year. I trained like a road rider, with the assumption that being a good road rider would make me a good cross rider. It just didn't work."