The first Van der Poel vs Van Aert arrives

Weekend with a double date at the Cyclocross World Cup. The first of them, next Saturday, December 20, will allow us to experience once again one of the stellar battles of the last decade in the muddy sport, the penultimate chapter of the always spectacular battles between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert.

Cyclocross World Cup Schedule in Antwerp

Saturday, December 20, 2025

• 10:00 Junior Women
• 12:00 Junior Men
• 13:40 Elite Women
• 15:10 Elite Men

Wout van Aert ready to test Van der Poel's invincibility in Antwerp

The first of the 5 matchups we will see this season in the muddy discipline between Wout van Aert and Mathieu will take place in the Cyclocross World Cup event in Antwerp. A race that, obviously, Mathieu van der Poel arrives at as the top favorite for victory, both for his win less than a week ago on a tough course like Namur and for the fact that he has been unbeaten since January 2024 when Wout van Aert managed to defeat him in Benidorm.

Wout van Aert's performance heading into this race is somewhat of a mystery. While historically the Belgian has shown a level very similar to that of his archrival, the reality is that in the last two years, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider has elevated his performance. Additionally, Wout van Aert is focusing exclusively on the road, with cyclocross being little more than a training session with a number, not to mention the significant financial benefits that the Christmas campaign brings to these cyclists. In any case, class is never lost, and we will surely see Wout in the group of those fighting for the race.

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Given the season he is having and the great performance in Namur, Thibau Nys seems to be a more likely contender to challenge Van der Poel, as he continues to grow with each race and is starting to resemble the cyclist we all expected him to be due to his surname and genetics. Only a silly technical error prevented Thibau Nys from contesting the victory in Namur against Van der Poel; in fact, we have no doubt that, based on how the race unfolded, it would have ended in a sprint had it not been for the mistake. In any case, another opportunity for the Balise Glowi Lions cyclist to break Mathieu van der Poel's invincibility.

On a second tier, we cannot forget about Michael Vanthourenhout, who continues to show great solidity and will likely be seen in the leading positions, waiting for a mistake from these three cyclocross giants.

The Spanish representation will once again be led by Felipe Orts, who had to settle for 15th place in Namur and seems to have lost the spark that saw him compete with the best last winter. Nothing strange in such a competitive discipline as cyclocross, where the slightest dip in form means the leading group pulls away with unusual speed. The national participation will also include the always willing Mario Junquera, another regular like Kevin Suarez, as well as Raúl Mira, Unax Galán, Javier Zaera, and Marcos Gómez, a good example of the arrival of the Christmas circuit that gives the more modest riders a chance to compete in the cradle of cyclocross.

Cyclocross World Cup Circuit in Antwerp

A change of pace in the type of circuit for this fifth race of the CX World Cup. From the forest and sticky mud that accompanied the cyclocross riders in Namur, we move to the banks of the Scheldt River with a course where the sand sections will be the main feature of the Antwerp route.

Some sandy sections spread throughout the entire distance of the circuit, complemented by an artificial bridge and a plank crossing in the middle of each lap.

How to watch the Cyclocross World Cup in Antwerp

Once again, winter sports and snooker are taking precedence over cyclocross in the Eurosport lineup, so with no space on the standard Eurosport 1 and 2 channels, the only way to follow the Antwerp event on this channel will be through the HBO Max platform.

Fortunately, this season we have the broadcasts that Televisión Española is providing through the Teledeporte channel and the online platform RTVE Play, as well as the UCI's own YouTube channel.