PREVIEW | 2025 Cyclocross World Championships Men & Women - Favourites, Track, TV Guide & Poll

On Saturday February 1st and Sunday February 2nd, the elite women's and men's Rainbow Jerseys will be handed out at the 2025 Cyclocross World Championships in Lievin, France. Here, we preview the two elite races.

There are plenty of stories to follow this weekend in both races. For the women's, questions remain over whether Fem van Empel will be able to produce her top form after a relatively quieter winter. In the men's, the action is headlined by a blockbuster, box office battle between the disciplines two biggest stars - Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert.

Fem van Empel has claimed back-to-back UCI Cyclo-cross World Championship titles (2023, 2024), succeeding her Team Visma | Lease a Bike teammate Marianne Vos, who won a record 8th title in 2022. As mentioned though, Van Empel has been markedly less dominant this winter. Whilst still very successful, taking 10 victories, the reigning world champion has also been beaten 9 times.

This Saturday, Van Empel faces strong competition from former rainbow jersey winners Lucinda Brand (2021 winner) and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (2020 winner), plus Team SD Worx-Protime duo Blanka Kata Vas and Marie Schreiber and of course, the always dangerous Puck Pieterse.

Italian star Sara Casasola has made big strides this winter and could be considered an outsider. The legendary Sanne Cant, in her final ever Cyclocross World Championship appearance could also want to go out with a bang. Also worth noting is home hero Helene Clauzel, who will have the benefit of rapid support from the French crowd in Lievin.

*** Fem van Empel
** Lucinda Brand, Puck Pieterse, Blanka Kata Vas
* Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Sara Casasola, Marie Schreiber

Pick: Lucinda Brand

As mentioned, in the men's race, all the headlines are taken by Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. Van der Poel has dominated in his appearances over the 2024-2025 season, winning all seven of the races he has competed. The Dutchman had looked the odds-on favourite to storm to a record equalling 7th Rainbow Jersey. That was before the last minute announcement of his arch-rival Van Aert's participation.

Since 2012, Van Aert and Van der Poel have faced off against each other in 11 different Cyclocross World Championships across the age ranges, with the advantage slightly in the Dutchman's favour, 7-4. Van der Poel undoubtedly remains the favourite for the Rainbow Jersey on Sunday in Lievin too, but the mere presence of Van Aert at the startline means the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader is unlikely to have things all his own way.

Aside from the two superstars, the likely battle for third spot on the podium is led by Thibau Nys. The son of a legend has stepped out of his father's shadow this winter, taking both the European and Belgian titles. One concern though, is the fact Nys has been battling illness over recent weeks. Compatriots Eli Iserbyt and Laurens Sweeck have also had their issues in the build up to Lievin, but their experience could be telling. Fellow Belgian's Michael Vanthourenhout, Joran Wyseure, Niels Vandeputte and Emiel Verstrynge are all well suited to the Lievin course, and Toon Aerts can't be ruled out from a podium finish on his World Championship return.

Along with Belgium, the Netherlands are the other nation with real strength in depth. Backing up Van der Poel, the likes of Joris Nieuwenhuis, Lars van der Haar and Pim Ronhaar. Nieuwenhuis especially has shown strong form in recent weeks and could be the race's dark horse after missing much of the 2024/25 season.

From the rest of the field, riders such as Spain's Felipe Orts, who finished runner-up at the European Championship earlier this winter, Great Britain's Cameron Mason, who was second at the European's last season, Czech Republic's Michael Boros and Frenchman Clement Venturini will all be looking to make a mark.

*** Mathieu van der Poel

** Wout van Aert

* Thibau Nys, Michael Vanthourenhout, Eli Iserbyt, Joran Wyseure, Joris Nieuwenhuis

Pick: Mathieu van der Poel

The women's race will start at 15:05 on Saturday and end at around 15:55 local time. The men's race will start at 15:05 on Sunday and end at around 16:05 local time.

You can watch the broadcast of the race at the UCI website and Discovery+ internationally, as well as the traditional outlets. The channels which will broadcast the race will include VRT (Belgium), Flobikes (Canada), L'Équipe (France), CT Sport (Czech Republic), TV2 (Denmark) and TV2 (Norway), RAI Sport (Italy), Eurosport 1 (Netherlands), TVE (Spain) and the BBC IPlayer (United Kingdom).

For a better look at the course itself, see the video down below!