Long Live the party, long live cyclocross fever. The sport keeps its edge every season, even as heat and mud fuse into one tough challenge. Fans flock to the venues, and the spotlight remains brightest on the Belgian and Dutch stars. The festival atmosphere is undeniable, with riders like Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel driving the excitement, and Tom Pidcock slipping into the limelight as the pace intensifies toward July.
Each race brings its own controversy, especially in Flanders, drawing thousands of spectators. In the end, a few riders often share the glory and the spoils. According to the Sporza coverage, Van Aert can earn as much as 15,000 euros per race, while van der Poel commands roughly 10,000 euros per event. If victory slips away, the rivalry tightens, with Van Aert edging out van der Poel in tight moments, as happened last Tuesday when the Dutch rider overcame a Belgian puncture in a dramatic late dash. Friday and Saturday promise new duels that keep the tension high.
Please watch this spectacle unfold. #superprestige #CXDiegem @WoutvanAert @tompidcock
— Tatiana Rodríguez (@Tatrod) 28 December 2022
Van Aert has contested eight cyclocross events so far, securing five wins and three second-place finishes. van der Poel has been even more prolific, debuting with a victory and tallying four more wins. van der Poel’s dominance is clear with two wins in thirteen races for another competitor, highlighting the depth of the field.
The trio is poised to meet again on Sunday, January 22 at a venue reminiscent of Europe’s best-known stops, a major festival in the Costa Blanca that has already sold out roughly half of its 10,000 tickets. Unlike road races, the box office culture is a defining feature here. The event marks Spain’s return to a World Cup rhythm after more than a decade, with the last World Cup held in Igorre, Vizcaya, a traditional site for this circuit until its pause. Nico Van Looy speaks on behalf of the organizers, underscoring the significance of the moment.
X2O Trophy Herentals (C2)
1 Mathieu van der Poel 2 Wout van Aert 3 Eli Iserbyt
4 Van der Haar 5 Mason 6 Ronhaar 7 Adams 8 Brothers 9 Merlier 10 Soet ➡️ Results: [citation]
— Cyclocross24.com (@cyclocross24) January 3, 2023
For the city of Alicante, it will be a major event to host three cyclocross stars who push the race beyond the mud and rely on each other as much as they challenge one another. The sport’s champions across disciplines — a world champion, an Olympic mountain bike title holder, and the recent Alpe d’Huez victor — will be represented, each carving their name into the sport’s record books.
In late December, the organizers began laying out a challenging course featuring sand, stairs, and planks. The route will also welcome a strong women’s field, led by Marianne Vos from the Netherlands, a former world champion and a perennial favorite. In the men’s race, Van Aert has been the trailblazer, with live broadcasts planned on Teledeporte and Eurosport. The event arrives two weeks before the Cyclo-Cross World Championship set for Germany in 2023. Hoogerheide, the Dutch venue, sits on the road calendar after Pidcock’s withdrawal, inviting speculation about the lineups and rivalries to come.