PREVIEW | Cyclocross Zonhoven 2023 World Cup Men&Women - Favourites, Track, TV Guide & Poll

Preview. Round number 12 of the cyclocross World Cup takes place in Zonhoven. This is one of the most reputable races of the season and will be very important when it comes to the cup classifications.

The weather has improved ever so slightly, and it's not expected to be a muddy race, so a slightly faster affair than in the last few weeks. However, the course itself features very tough and technical sections in the sand that are most noteworthy. The sand dune area, 'De Kuil', will be the main attraction and likely most vital part of the course, with technical descents, running climbs and off-camber sections all present, where gaps will inevitably be created.

It's a very explosive track no doubt, with several little sand sections, tight corners and small banks throughout the course. It is a race that won't allow for many tactics to be played out because it'll be far from a consistent effort. There just isn't a significant amount of calm and flatter sections with the exception of the finishing straight and the seconds that follow.

Hence it is a race that will likely explode from early on, with the best likely having a big fight for positioning in the opening minutes of the race so as to tackle the main sand sectors as well positioned as possible. From there, it's unlikely that things will calm down, it'll be a long race where it will also be very important to try and avoid mistakes as they can easily happen here.

Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado did not show the best signs today in Gullegem and, being the only rider racing on Saturday, she may struggle a bit on Sunday. A race that isn't bad for her however. The real battle will be between Fem van Empel and Puck Pieterse, Pieterse has been showing an extremely high level and the two should enter quite balanced. Van Empel was strong in Koksijde and looked at her best again. It could be quite a brutal fight. Lucinda Brand will also be present but it will be hard to fight for the race win against this level of competition.

The field remains very strong, with sand specialist Laura Verdonschot quite an interesting figure to take into consideration. Zoe Bäckstedt has just won in Gullegem, a motivating victory, which propels her back into a strong Top5 contender here. Inge van der Heijden, Manon Bakker, Blanka Kata Vas and Marie Schreiber will also be strong contenders, fatigue plays a big role at this time of the season and Christmas block.

Annemarie Worst, Sanne Cant, Marion Norbert Riberolle, Sara Casasola, Leonie Bentveld, Hélène Clauzel, Kristyna Zemanová and the Holmgren twins Isabella and Ava who are still very young but are getting good experience among the best.

Mathieu van der Poel's race to lose. It is not necessary to write much about the fight for victory, the World Champion is unbeatable this season and this is a course that suits him, the sandy sections specially will be ideal for his technical abilities. With no Wout van Aert present it will be very hard to see anyone match him, Tom Pidcock is also absent, whilst Eli Iserbyt is back to competition after illness that saw him skip several races. Pim Ronhaar should be the number two rider in the field however he won't find the heavy terrain and mud where he usually thrives.

Baloise - Trek Lions have the weapons, and they have the opportunity to close the gap to Iserbyt if he does not have a good day. They do not really care much about the World Cup, but besides Ronhaar, also Lars van der Haar and Joris Nieuwenhuis are not too far from the first place with a few events still to go. Laurens Sweeck and Niels Vandeputte will be outsiders. Today we've seen Michael Vanthourenhout, Cameron Mason, Thibau Nys, Joran Wyseure and Gianni Vermeersch race at a high level and if they repeat, a Top10 could do quite well.

We've got the youngsters who can surprise in Tibor del Grosso, Emiel Verstrynge (these two mainly, Top5 candidates in my opinion), Witse Meeussen and Ward Huybs. Ryan Kamp, Toon Vandebosch, Jens Adams, Quinten Hermans, Kevin Kuhn, Felipe Orts and Thijs Aerts could be happy with a Top10 in this field.

The women's race will start at 13:40 local time and is estimated to finish at 14:30 local time. The men's race is set to start at 15:10 local time and is estimated to finish at around 16:15 local time.

You can watch the broadcast of the race at the UCI website and Eurosport Player internationally, as well as the traditional outlets. The channels which will broadcast the race will include Telenet Playsports and Proximus (Belgium), Flobikes (Canada) and NOS.nl (Netherlands).

PREDICTIONS:

Women's Elite
*** Puck Pieterse
** Fem van Empel, Lucinda Brand
* Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Laura Verdonschot, Marie Schreiber

Men's Elite
*** Mathieu van der Poel
** Joris Nieuwenhuis, Pim Ronhaar
* Lars van der Haar, Laurens Sweeck, Michael Vanthourenhout