"Perhaps fewer cyclo-cross races are needed" - UCI CEO Peter Van den Abeele admits

The cyclo-cross season is slowly approaching its conclusion and then the discussion about the calendar inevitably flares up again. Many observers argue for a more compact World Cup calendar and UCI CEO Peter Van den Abeele also agrees.

Van den Abeele, Sports Director at UCI, also realizes that it is all a bit too much of a good thing. "Perhaps fewer cyclo-cross races are needed. And perhaps also fewer World Cup cyclo-cross races," Van den Abeele told Sporza in Koksijde.

"These are negotiations that we must of course initially conduct with Flanders Classics. They are the rights holder," Van den Abeele explains. Commercial considerations also play a role. "That makes sense," he echoes. "Flanders Classics has signed up for 14 to 16 rounds."

The UCI and Flanders Classics must therefore reach an agreement. But what is the UCI's wish? "I could also live with 14. But with 10 or 12 World Cup crosses in a season it might be even more attractive," says Van den Abeele. "A much more compact World Cup from December to the week before the World Cup seems logical to me. Anyway, if you see how many people come to Koksijde on a Thursday, then the public interest is there."