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

Round 9 of the cyclocross World Cup will take place this Sunday, January 4th, in Zonhoven. Mathieu van der Poel will be the grand headliner of the race which takes the riders into the famous 'De Kuil' sand pit; whilst Wout van Aert is now at home nursing an injury suffered at the Exact Cross Mol. We take a look at the startlist of the race and where to watch it online, on TV, in the USA and UK. 

Muddy season has finally begun in Belgium and the riders will be feeling it in Zonhoven. Sporadic periods of snow are in fact expected throughout the weekend, but there is no snowstorm on the forecast such as the one that fell on the riders in Mol. 

It will be a course that will be quite muddy however, and the temperatures will be freezing, with a maximum of 0 degrees throughout the day. It will be a very difficult day for the riders, the weather will make it an even more difficult affair whilst the course requires extensive focus and technique, specially in the downhill sand sections of 'De Kuil', one of the sport's most iconic locations. 

In the morning there will be a women's junior race starting out at 10:00CET whilst the men's event begins at 12:00CET. 

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:

Mathieu van der Poel has gotten the big goals of the season almost handed to him, in a way. With Wout van Aert injured, the one man who seemed to be able to challenge him is out of competition and an eighth world title looks inevitable unless he himself gets injured or ill. And on the other hand, with Laurens Sweeck also injured and out of competition, the Dutchman should have the World Cup in his hand. And as soon as this Sunday, ce should jump into the lead of the cup. 

Thibau Nys is the new 'provisional' world cup leader with 183 points, but he has himself skipped two races. He holds 23 points over van der Poel who is very likely to win in the sand and score 40, so he must take a ninth place (17 points) at least to have the jersey in Benidorm within two weeks. Quite a likely scenario, even though Nys is absolutely not a fan of the sand and has occasional off-days. 

The Dutch have Joris Nieuwenhuis, Tibor del Grosso, Lars van der Haar, Pim Ronhaar, Mees Hendrikx, Ryan Kamp and under-23 talent David Haverdings present; the Belgian have Michael Vanthourenhout, Niels Vandeputte, Toon Aerts, Emiel Verstrynge, , Jente Michels, Toon Vandebosch, Gerben Kuypers and Joran Wyseure as capable of finishing amongst the best; whilst the likes of Felipe Orts, Cameron Mason, Kevin Kuhn, Andrew Strohmeyer and Filippo Fontana lead the 'international' pack. 

In the women's race, like the men's event, it's hard to think of a different winner other than the rider who has been dominating the calendar recently: Lucinda Brand. The Dutchwoman has the World Cup win virtually confirmed and has won every single race in the competition that she started. Here, it will be difficult to challenge her too, and without racing in Mol, fatigue shouldn't affect her either. 

But as the season develops so do new riders, who have begun their campaign later and are now in great form, and it can be argued that Puck Pieterse can be a very dangerous threat in such a technical race, specially after her win in Diegem and close second place in Baal behind Brand. 

Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (winner in Mol), Inge van der Heijden, Aniek van Alphen, Manon Bakker, Leonie Bentveld, Shirin van Anrooij, Amandine Fouquenet, Célia Gery, Marion Norbert Riberolle, Julie Brouwers, Sara Casasola, Marie Schreiber and Zoe Bäckstedt are all present to provide the race with more depth and quality in what is going to be a very special Sunday.