"No one takes the World Cup seriously" - Sven Nys raises concerns for cyclocross' future

Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert were again the two biggest stars of the recent cyclocross winter, despite racing what is seemingly an ever-shortening calendar. Given the growing rarity of the main attraction's appearances, the legendary figure in Belgian cyclocross, Sven Nys has raised some concerns for the future of the discipline.

One of the issues raised by Nys, is the make up of the modern UCI World Cup calendar, seeing 12 races spread over 6 countries in just 2 months. “Not a good thing, but I have now accepted it,” analyses the father of the current Belgian and European champion Thibau Nys, as part of Sporza Daily. "Give the riders some breathing space. Now no one takes the World Cup seriously and there are a lot of cancellations. If you spread the World Cup over the entire season, cross riders will have the opportunity to go on a training camp once."

Another point raised, was the choice to continue the cyclocross calendar by two weeks after the conclusion of the World Championships. With this though, Nys is a little more forgiving, explaining how it allows chances for the rest of the pack to take victories. "For the real traditional crossers I think the period from the beginning of October until two weeks after the World Championships is absolutely allowed," he says. "A number of dominant riders are no longer present and that feels like a void: in the first weeks of the season and now after the World Championships. But the riders put up a great fight during that period."

As mentioned though, arguably the biggest issue facing star power currently is the lack of star power when Van Aert and Van der Poel are not present. Given Thibau Nys' rising stardom on the road, it likely won't be long before he too is riding a much reduced winter programme. “We have to take into account that riders will combine and have to make choices,” Sven Nys explains. "That's why they ride less and less. That doesn't only apply to our discipline. Look at Mathieu van der Poel's spring. He only rides a handful of races in the spring."