"Van Aert and Van der Poel have been essentially saying 'screw you' to the UCI" - Cyclocross legend Bart Wellens
Cyclocross
Starting fees in cyclocross are very high and often are what keeps the top pros running with a high pay throughout the year. Bart Wellens, former World Champion and legend of the discipline, questions whether it's worth it for the riders to take up a road calendar during the summer whilst also accusing the UCI of poor calendar management, involving Mathieu van der Poel and Bart Wellens in his argument.
“You sometimes hear in the corridors that it's only about those two, but that's your fault as media. The only thing that bothers me is that the UCI tailors the World Cup calendar to their program and crams all the races into December and January as much as possible," Wellens said in words to Het Nieuwsblad. "This makes it impossible for riders who race full seasons to combine the three classifications.”
Ultimately it is impossible for the likes of van der Poel and van Aert to fight for these classifications unless they have a program, at the bare minimum, throughout the whole of November, December and January. However due to their ambitions on the road - and van der Poels' MTB dreams as well - it has simply become impossible over the few years, and they are ultimately smaller goals than those they have o the roadd.
"The pure cyclocross rider Michael Vanthourenhout won the World Cup classification last season. For two years now, Van Aert and Van der Poel have been essentially saying 'fuck you' to the UCI, but they persist in their anger."
Is it financially worth it to race on the road?
Reportedly, the likes of van der Poel and van Aert can earn up to €20.000 per race as a starting fee, which at the end of a dozen races makes for an already very significant pay. Meanwhile the likes of Michael Vanthourenhout, Eli Iserbyt and Thibau Nys ordinarily can go up to €5000 whilst the numbers lowers depending on the riders' attractiveness and UCI rankings.
Wellens questions on whether it is worth it for many riders to split their ambitions between cyclocross and the road when they could instead just fully focus on cyclocross, benefitting perhaps financially but also performance-wise in the discipline. "The leaders certainly do. But to earn what, say, Laurens Sweeck earns, you really have to be a very valuable domestique on the road."
"I know cyclocross riders who have never won a race, but now receive more starting pay than I did when I was world champion," he argues. "I negotiated with riders to join the team. Those salaries are astonishing."
Michael Vanthourenhout on the World Cup in 2024-2024. @Imago
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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