Belgium holds the first step in the Top 3️⃣ most successful Cyclo-cross nations - Men Elite category 🥇🇧🇪 - x76 medals 🥈🇫🇷 - x34 medals 🥉🇳🇱 - x29 medals Which nation will the 2023 UCI World Champion come from? #Hoogerheide2023
PREVIEW | Cyclocross World Championships Hoogerheide Men's under-23 - Favourites, Track, TV Guide & Poll
CyclocrossSaturday, 04 February 2023 at 11:53
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.
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.
Course Hoogerheide 2023 World Championships
Video Hoogerheide 2023 World Championships. Via Tibor del Grosso / Youtube
The fast race should mean it will be a close battle between the big hitters. Thibau Nys has won all 4 of the 4 World Cup races he's been at this year and everything points towards a great moment of form that should make him the man to beat in Hoogerheide. On his trail however will be the victor in Besançon Tibor Del Grosso, aswell as many of Nys' compatriots who have performed throughout the season.
This could truly become a monumental battle between the Belgian and the Dutch. Besides Nys, Belgium comes in with Emiel Verstrynge, Joran Wyseure, Witse Meeussen, Jente Michels and Victor van de Putte. The Dutch, besides Del Grosso, will feature the likes of David Haverdings and Danny van Lierop. The fight for the first spots should be there, but from the other nations feature a few outsiders such as Davide Toneatti for Italy, Andrew Strohmeyer for the USA and Dario Lillo for Switzerland.
Startlist Men Under-23 Race
The race will start this Saturday 4th February at 13:00 local time (13:00CET) and is estimated to finish at 13:50 local time (13:50CET).
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
*** Thibau Nys
** Tibor Del Grosso, Emiel Verstrynge
* Witse Meeussen, Joran Wyseure, Davide Toneatti
Poll
claps 0visitors 83
Just in
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Nov 05, 13:04
0
Five world tour debutants to watch next season
Dec 23, 10:00
0
Popular news
Latest comments
- Most of these have nothing to do with rider safety or are completely unachievablevappaxbipmv23-12-2024
- Depends on how fast the Cipressa would be beforehand and in what condition Philipsen would bevappaxbipmv23-12-2024
- Some things sound crazy until they aren't, what if he's actually right? 🤷vappaxbipmv23-12-2024
- Why make a comment to state the obvious? Of course MvdP is much better at CX than Pogacar, does anyone doubt that But that wasn't his pointvappaxbipmv23-12-2024
- If you look at road alone obvi Pogacar is the better rider. But maybe MVDP is the better overall rider since he can win in three plus disciplines?mobk23-12-2024
- Correction on 2021 Olympics. It was mainly the Dutch ladies who didn’t know who was leading the race. Other teams like the Germans and Italians knew that Kiesenhofer was out front.mobk23-12-2024
- A champion turning into a sore loser. Or is he on coke again?
UltimateOpportunist23-12-2024 - If you look at the major races they’ve both been in, van der Poel had the early edge as lately Pogacar has had the advantage. It’s all on procyclingstats.RidesHills23-12-2024
- I wouldn’t assume Tadej can’t win at cross. He did a cross race, not a World Cup, a few years ago and crushed the field. It was a minor race. But he can win anywhere.mij23-12-2024
- I wonder what would happen if Pogacar attacked on the Cipressa instead of the Poggio in San Remo? Would MvdPoel still be able to follow?Ride197423-12-2024