Clash of the Cyclocross Titans! Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pidcock will face each other in at least four races

The Ineos Grenadiers stable has confirmed the cyclocross programme of one of the biggest stars in cycling today, Tom Pidcock. The 24-year-old Briton will open his season on December 16 with a race in Herentals, Belgium, and finish it on January 21 with a World Cup race in Benidorm. Like Van Aert, Pidcock will miss the World Championships in Tabor.

The cyclo-cross season has been underway for a few weeks now, but most fans are still waiting anxiously for the sport’s biggest stars Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock to start racing. While the Dutchman and Belgian’s calendar has been known for some time, the 24-year-old Briton’s schedule was only revealed by his team last week.

The reigning world cross country champion will complete a total of ten cyclocross races, four fewer than the previous year. The calendar includes six World Cup events, but he will also compete in the X20 Trofee and Superprestige series. Pidcock will not enter the World Championship for the second year in a row.

Nevertheless, cycling fans will be pleased to hear that the three kings of contemporary cyclocross will be competing in at least four races.

They are scheduled to line up together in three World Cup events, Antwerp on 23 December, Gavere on 26 December and Hulst on 30 December. Their next clash should come on 4 January in the X2O Trofee series race on the sand track in Koksijde.

However, that number is still subject to change. Van der Poel and Pidcock are expected to take part in the World Cups in Zonhoven and Benidorm in January, while Van Aert has not yet confirmed starts in these races. So there is a chance that there will be a bit more joint competitions after all.

The cyclocross kings enter the season

The first of the “big three” to start the cyclocross season is the Belgian from the Jumbo-Visma stable. He will start the opening race on 9 December in Essen. A week later, Pidcock will also take to the start of the cyclocross race in Herentals on 16 December.

Van der Poel’s first race is not until just before Christmas. He will make his first appearance on December 22 on the track in Mol, where he is expected to compete against Van Aert, among others. The Dutchman’s racing season will then last until the World Championships in Tabor, where he will fight for the sixth rainbow cyclocross champion’s jersey on February 4.

Source: Ineos Grenadiers, CyclingNews.com