Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal not happy about the 'field trip' to USA: "We travel all the way to America for a one-hour race. We leave on Friday, we return on Monday"

The first round of the 2023/2024 Cyclocross World Cup is scheduled for next Sunday in Waterloo, USA. Riders and entourage will cross the Atlantic Ocean this week for one cyclo-cross, which is not well received everywhere.

"Madness," Jurgen Mettepenningen of Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal called it at Sporza. "We travel all the way to America for a one-hour race. We leave on Friday, we return on Monday. There are eight of us going to Waterloo: four riders and four staff members. That costs us between 20,000 and 25,000 euros for three to four days," he explains.

Circus-ReUz-Technord, Bart Wellens' formation, even fits perfectly. "Anyone who does not race in America will of course have a less favorable starting position for the next cross, but that does not outweigh the total costs. Moreover, the team does not really have any sponsorship interests to defend in America, compared to, among others, the Nys team."

"It's not going in the right direction," ex-cross rider Dieter Vanthourenhout is certain. "In countries like Germany and Switzerland, where there are beautiful courses, there is a need to organize World Cups."