World Cup Gavere Cyclocross: Startlist, Map, Favorites, how to watch Mathieu van der Poel in the USA and UK

Round 5 of the cyclocross World Cup will take place this Friday, December 26th, in Gavere. It is the first race after Christmas and the continuation of the Christmas block, with Mathieu van der Poel headlining the race and having a shot at taking the lead of the competition. We take a look at the startlist of the Gavere race, and where to watch it online, on TV, in the USA and UK.

This is a race that van der Poel has now won three times in a row. In Antwerp, Koksijde and Hofstade the sand made the difference, in Heusden-Zolder the speed was incredibly high and explosive but in Gavere, even in dry conditions, will be a course more suited to the climbers. A wide, grassy track with a few longer climbs and running sections that will make creating differences an easy task for the strongest.

The women's elite race will start at 13:40CET and should end at approximately 14:30CET. The men's race begins at 15:10CET and should end at around 16:15CET. 

The race will be broadcast on Eurosport and HBO Max/Discover+ as is usual, as well as the UCI's Youtube channel live. Furthermore this race will be broadcast in:

This is a race for Mathieu van der Poel to dominate, I'm afraid. Climbing courses aren't his favourite, but they mean he can create the difference more easily, and technically speaking he is incredibly strong at the moment. He has also been choosing his schedule more conservatively, because he does not need to fight for classifications - although mathematically speaking, he could actually jump to the lead here already.

Tibor del Grosso, winning in Heusden-Zolder, will be interesting to follow from now on with a different status after beating Wout van Aert. Joris Nieuwenhuis, Lars van der Haar, Pim Ronhaar, Ryan Kamp, Mees Hendrickx, Michael Vanthourenhout, Niels Vandeputte, Thibau Nys, Laurens Sweeck, Toon Aert, Emiel Verstrynge, Joran Wyseure, Toon Vandebosch, Jente Michels, Felipe Orts, Kevin Kuhn and Cameron Mason add to the mix on this race.

Lucinda Brand is secure in the lead of the world cup, winning every race she's started, and in this course it's quite likely that she will do it again. However the competition is growing with speed, specially from those that have started their season now recently. Aniek van Alphen, Inge van her Heijden and Manon Bakker may not have the top end speed that other rivals will have. Amandine Fouquenet has just won in Zolder and she will actually be a very interesting rival, alongside Célia Gery who was second to Brand at the Koppenbercross. Leonie Bentvelt is also eyeing the classification.

Marion Norbert Riberolle, Leonie Bentveld, Sara Casasola are also present and will be meaningful contenders. Puck Pieterse, Shirin van Anrooij, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Blanka Kata Vas specially can be dangerous at this point in time and can begin to put Brand's dominance into question.