This 4th and 5th of February 2023 will see the Cyclocross World Championships in the track of Hoogerheide. It will be the climax of the season as riders of several different categories battle for their respective rainbow jerseys.
Grey skies will cover the Netherlands this weekend but rain is unlikely. The traditional track of Hoogerheide will be on display this weekend with it's grassy fields, several bridges and fast sections. It isn't a selective course which means that tactics will with no doubt be important and the first few laps are certainly going to see some mutual studying between the riders.
The second half features in quick succession the planks, an up and down bank section, a long stairs drag and an off-camber descent into the finishing straight. It is possible that some of the races will be decided only on the final lap and on this section. The finishing straight section features small uphill gradients but it is rather long and throughout the race will provide room for tactics to be played.
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Overall it will be fast and explosive races surely. With dry conditions there is only one running section in the course and no true climbing or descending features that can create meaningful gaps. With no mud or sand in the mix, it will be up to the riders' form and technical abilities to keep the momentum all throughout the race.
This race should be the main event of the weekend and feature the long-awaited battle between Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel who return to the Worlds and have prepared their winter around this one day. The stakes will be very high and the two have shown a level superior to the rest over the last few weeks. With each other, van Aert has beaten van der Poel on the tougher courses, whilst on the fast tracks - including their final battle in Benidorm - van der Poel took the win. Both have won Hamme and Besançon dominantly last week, and in this track things should be very evenly matched.
The battle for the win, on such a fast track can also include Eli Iserbyt, Laurens Sweeck, Michael Vanthourenhout and Lars van der Haar who have been strong throughout the year, and are likely to be fighting for the medals aswell. Occasional strong performances have came from the likes of Kevin Kuhn and Niels Vandeputte who can also dream of such a position despite the competition. Joris Nieuwenhuis and Clément Venturini rode to third and fourth in Besançon and will be contenders for a place in the Top5. Cameron Mason, Gerben Kuypers, Pim Ronhaar, Ryan Kamp, Jens Adams, Felipe Orts, Toon Vandebosch and Timo Kielich will all be contenders for a place in the Top10 or more on a strong day.
The race will start this Sunday 5th of February at 15:00 local time (15:00CET) and is estimated to finish at 16:05 local time (16:05CET).
You can watch the broadcast of the race at the UCI website; GCN+/Eurosport Player internationally. The channels which will broadcast the race will be Flobikes (Canada/USA), Sporza (Belgium), NOS (Netherlands), Ceská Televize (Czech Republic), TV2/Play Danmark (Denmark) and TV2 Norge (Norway).
PREDICTIONS:
Women's Elite
*** Mathieu van der Poel
** Wout van Aert, Eli Iserbyt
* Laurens Sweeck, Michael Vanthourenhout, Lars van der Haar
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