The UCI announces the Calendar of the CX World Cup 2024-25
The UCI sets dates and names for the calendar of the next Cyclocross World Cup season. The top mud competition will have 12 races in 6 different countries and highlights the presence of Benidorm for the third consecutive year. In addition, the World Championship will be held in the French town of Liévin from January 31 to February 2.
The CX World Cup 2024-25: these are the 12 events that make up the calendar
The calendar for the CX World Cup 2024-25 is now a reality. The announcement has been made official through a statement published by the UCI along with Flanders Classics -organizer and promoter of this competition and many cycling events-. The most important event in the discipline has introduced some changes compared to the previous campaign and will return to Benidorm for the third time.
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The most important news is in the dates: if October is usually the month responsible for kicking off the CX World Cup, now it has been decided to delay the start until the end of November. Thus, the calendar will be tighter than ever with twelve races in nine weeks. The extensive calendar of other seasons -last year it was spread over sixteen weeks- was one of the reasons why most riders skipped some races and opted to participate in other competitions like the Superprestige, X2O, or Exact Cross.
The UCI caused a stir by hinting at a possible veto in the World Championship for those who neglected the World Cup and shortly after announced measures to mitigate the exodus of riders to other competitions. Among other decisions, now the top 20 riders in the ranking will be required to attend the World Cup events and the first two rows of the grid will be ordered according to the overall classification.
Belgium will once again be the epicenter of the mud. The cyclocross country par excellence will kick off the calendar in Antwerp and throughout the season will also host events in Namur, Zonhoven, Gavere, and Maasmechelen. The Netherlands will have Hulst and Hoogerheide -the last World Cup-, while Ireland, Italy, France, and Spain will mark the international accent.
All races will take place on European soil, which means the absence of the United States after being present for nine consecutive years.
On the other hand, the CX World Championship 2025 will take place from January 31 to February 2 in Liévin, France.
One of the most positive news is that Benidorm repeats for the third time -January 19; penultimate race- and the late position it occupies again has a double benefit: it increases the chances of seeing the top figures in action in the discipline and anticipates a decisive role in the fight for the overall title. The Spanish event will try to continue the organizational and public success -16,000 attendees last season- of previous years.
Pascual Momparler has expressed his satisfaction with the news: “Three years ago people thought we were crazy for organizing a cyclocross race in Benidorm". In addition, he explains that the third consecutive presence on the calendar "is a success on the part of our entire team; a success of all our fans who have not hesitated to be there and support us for the event to succeed; and a success of the institutions of Benidorm and the Costa Blanca, which demonstrate their ability to host world-class events”.
Cyclocross World Cup 2024-25 Calendar
No. | Location | Country | Date |
1 | Antwerp | Belgium | November 24 |
2 | Dublin | Ireland | December 1 |
3 | Oristano* | Italy | December 8 |
4 | Namur | Belgium | December 15 |
5 | Hulst | Netherlands | December 21 |
6 | Zonhoven | Belgium | December 22 |
7 | Gavere | Belgium | December 26 |
8 | Besançon | France | December 29 |
9 | Dendermonde | Belgium | January 5 |
10 | Benidorm | Spain | January 19 |
11 | Maasmechelen | Belgium | January 25 |
12 | Hoogerheide | Netherlands | January 26 |
*to be confirmed
The races in Dublin, Hulst, Zonhoven, Besançon, Benidorm, and Hoogerheide will also feature races in the Men's Under 23, Men's Junior, and Women's Junior categories.