World Cup, Superprestige & X2O Trofee Badkamers - How do the cyclocross cups stand after the Christmas block?

With the Christmas block complete, a great part of the cyclocross season has been completed. We take a look at how the World Cup, Superprestige and X2O Badkamers Trofee are looking only with a few races remaining in the calendar, and who is likely to win them. 

The World Cup, on the men's side, is perhaps the one that is most open. Not because the field is levelled, but because no rider at the very top has consistent results. Laurens Sweeck held the lead but crashed recently and ended his season; Thibau Nys looked to be the man to beat earlier in the year but was pulled out of the Koksijde World Cup and has had a few races where he barely scored; and Mathieu van der Poel has skipped several races. 

There are three races remaining: Benidorm, Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide. Van der Poel is not scheduled to race Benidorm, despite being close to home; but if he does, then he is set to win the world cup without a single doubt. He currently already leads it. The question is on whether Thibau Nys or Michael Vanthourenhout stand any chance of holding him back if he does skip the Spanish race. 

On the women's side Lucinda Brand was defeated for the first time in the cup in Zonhoven, however that hasn't put her victory in jeopardy. Mathematically speaking, only Aniek van Alphen could on paper reach Brand who has a massive lead over the rest of the competition; but even if she missed all three remaining races the victory would likely be hers. 

The Superprestige Cup is the one that benefits the most the purists and those who race all-season round, and there are different names leading on both sides. Only one race remains, which is set to take place in Middelkerke on the 7th of February. Niels Vandeputte leads Michael Vanthourenhout by 3 points, which will make for a thrilling finale to the series. Vandeputte has gained 2 points over the last 2 rounds, however a bad day could directly see him lose the competition that he already won last year. 

On the women's side lays an odd situation. Aniek van Alphen goes into the final round with a lead of 7 points over Amandine Fouquenet, likely to be kept in Middelkerke. However this is the case because in Diegem Inge van der Heijden crashed out and Fouquenet skipped the race altogether. The three were virtually tied, now Fouquenet is likely to lose the cup over that decision. 

The time-based cup saw a relatively tight battle over the first half of the cup, but on race 6 everything changed as Niels Vandeputte skipped the GP Sven Nys and Cameron Mason lost a substantial amount of time. Hence Joris Nieuwenhuis, who had serious concerns over a kneee injury during the last few weeks, took full advantage and has grown a gap of 2:52 over the Briton and 4:35 minutes over Niels Vandeputte. With Lille and Brussels remaining there is still space for changes, specially as Thibau Nys is also within 5 minutes, but the Dutchman is set to win if he doesn't experience a bad day. 

In the women's side there hasn't really been a competition for the win. Lucinda Brand won every single race and no-one truly had any chance of rivalling her, meaning that even skipping the final 2 races means she wins the cup as she can only lose 5 minutes per race maximum as a rule, and has a lead of 11:50 minutes over Manon Bakker. Julie Brouwers, third, has 19:50 minutes of disadvantage.