Preview World Cup Dendermonde 2025 | Exciting field of competitors to end a challenging period

Cyclo-cross
Friday, 03 January 2025 at 11:07
wout van aert 3

The end of the Christmas season in the field is just around the corner. It began on Saturday, December 21, in Hulst, Holland, with a World Cup and will also end with a race in that regularity classification, but in Dendermonde, Belgium. Who and what can we expect there on Sunday, January 5? IDLProCycling.com gives you a preview!

The cyclo-cross in Dendermonde has only been on the calendar since 2020, and due to the coronavirus, the first two times, it did not have any spectators on the field. Organizer Jurgen Mettepenningen - also team manager of Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel, obviously had his heart set on that but pushed through anyway. Fortunately, there were the riders and riders to offer TV viewers what they needed, with Wout van Aert and Lucinda Brand as winners in the first two editions.

The cross skipped a year in the winter of 2022/2023, but by the end of 2023, it did have a place in the past cyclo-cross season. There, we saw a true spectacle of mud, where Pim Ronhaar could win. Among the women, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado succeeded in winning.

Latest winners World Cup Dendermonde

2023/2024 Pim Ronhaar / Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado
2021/2022 Wout van Aert / Lucinda Brand
2020/2021 Wout van Aert / Lucinda Brand

Course, weather and times World Cup Dendermonde 2025

The World Cup organization in Dendermonde has built a nice technical course that should provide the necessary spectacle. The approximately 2,600-meter-long course has everything: stairs, a washboard, a bridge, steep uphill sections, a sandpit, and cobblestones—it's a real cyclocross course.

Many cycling fans will still remember the 2020 edition. The race ended in an apocalyptic mud fest, and given the recent weather conditions, it is not unlikely that something similar will happen this year.

Weather
The temperature will reach 10 degrees Celsius on Sunday, slightly higher than in recent days. However, a lot of precipitation is expected during the night from Saturday to Sunday, which will also affect the course. The wind will also be pretty strong.

Times
Start women: 1:40 PM local time (7:40 AM EST)
Finish women: around 2:30 PM local time (8:30 AM EST)
Start men: 3:10 PM local time (9:10 AM EST)
Finish men: around 4:15 PM local time (10:15 AM EST)

Favorites women's World Cup Dendermonde 2025

The Big Four are present among the women so we can look forward to another tough race. Of these, Fem van Empel currently seems to have the greatest chance of victory, as she has been on a roll the last few weeks. The Dutch rider from Visma | Lease a Bike had to skip some races at the end of December but returned very strong after that.

Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions) and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck) know what it is to win in Dendermonde and will, therefore, have their sights set on Dendermonde as well. However, they will also have to go full throttle on Saturday in Gullegem to fight for the lead in the Superprestige. Perhaps Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), still looking for her first win, will have an advantage.

Zoe Backstedt (Canyon//SRAM) can also certainly use her abilities in the mud of Dendermonde, as she showed last year with second place. Furthermore, we can expect regulars like Marie Schreiber and Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime), Manon Bakker, Sanne Cant, and Marion Norbert Riberolle (Crelan-Corendon).

van empel

Top favorite: Fem van Empel (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Outsiders: Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions) and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck)
Longshots: Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Zoe Backstedt (Canyon//SRAM), Marie Schreiber and Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime)

Favorites men's World Cup Dendermonde 2025

Will he be there, or won't he be there? Mathieu van der Poel already missed the cyclo-cross races in Baal and Koksijde due to rib problems and announced Thursday that there is also a big question mark behind the Dendermonde cyclo-cross race. Should MVDP show up, he is obviously the top favorite. If not, we won't see him in action again until Maasmechelen—on January 25.

However, Wout van Aert will definitely be there. The Belgian of Visma | Lease a Bike won the first two editions in Dendermonde, and with his skills, he is a strong contender again. We usually see him appear somewhere in the front regarding power.

If there is one team with plenty of determination at the start, it is Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel. Team owner Jurgen Mettepenningen is the organizer of the cyclo-cross in Dendermonde and will be hoping for a win by Michael Vanthourenhout or Eli Iserbyt. Meanwhile, Vanthourenhout will be racing for the first time this calendar year due to illness, but Iserbyt has already managed to win the New Year's Cross in Baal.

Baloise Glowi Lions also appears at the start with several riders: Pim Ronhaar, the outgoing winner; Lars van der Haar, the number two from last season; and Thibau Nys, a man who, with his abilities from the road, should also be able to do his thing on courses like this.

But there are more riders to consider. Corelan-Corendon also has three strong guests in its ranks with Laurens Sweeck, Emiel Verstrynge, and Joran Wyseure, where Deschacht-Hens-FSP (Toon Aerts) and Ridley (Felipe Orts) should instead count on one rider for a result. The amount of contenders is enormous!

wout van aert 2

Top favorite: Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) and, if participating, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Outsiders: Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel) and Thibau Nys (Baloise Glowi Lions)
Longshots: Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Glowi Lions), Toon Aerts (Deschacht-Hens-FSP), Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) and Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel)

TV broadcast World Cup Dendermonde 2025

The Dendermonde World Cup race can be watched live on several channels. Sporza will be on VRT1 from 1:30 PM local time (7:30 AM EST) onwards. For example, the international sports channel Eurosport will provide live images on television (Eurosport 1) and through its online channels (HBO Max).

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