Good morning and and welcome to the end of the Sub-Kerstperiode phase of the greater 2020 Cyclocross Kerstperiode. As much as we are looking forward to the ongoing deluge of racing, we want look even farther forward and undertake some prognostication over the 2021-2022 UCI World Cup Calendar.
Yesterday, the UCI sent out a World Cup application guide to prospective World Cup race organizers. In that pamphlet was a World Cup calendar that included 16 World Cup rounds for next season. No names or locations were attached to any of the dates. Just the dates were listed. What piqued my attention were the first three dates on the calendar: October 10, 13 and 17. Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday.
All of what follows is mostly conjecture. So I could be 100 percent correct, or completely off-base, but what I think we are looking at is a week of North American World Cup races to start the season.
My Belgian media friends already voiced skepticism about my theory because they believe that the North American World Cup races will be scheduled in January because the UCI will want all the big hitters in the US the weeks before Worlds in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Here’s why I think they are wrong.
Let’s start out with what we know: The Waterloo World Cup will happen October 10, 2021. This has been confirmed by Trek and endorsed by Flanders Classics. “Tomas Van Den Spiegel, CEO of Flanders Classics, was instrumental in securing these dates on the 2021 race calendar.” Deal. Done.
I can assure you that the October date is not going to be moved to January. For all of us who went to two years of US Nationals in Madison, a repeat of that winter wonderland scenario is not going to happen at Trek. So October 10 in Waterloo is the linchpin that we will build on. What can almost certainly be assumed is that the next two dates that week have to be in the US. There’s no travel scenario that puts a Wednesday race after a Sunday race back in Europe.
We also know that the Jingle Cross race organizers were devastated that they did not get a 2020 date and, without going on the record to say so, had hinted that they would be back in 2021. With everything that happens during the Jingle Cross Festival, it’s a good bet that the Iowa City World Cup will be Sunday, October 17.
And that leaves us with the Wednesday race. For me—and I have absolutely no confirmation that this is true—there is one race organizer in the country with a big incentive to have a World Cup and that’s Fayetteville. Without Pan Ams, the 2022 World Championships venue, never got a true test event. To have a broadcast set up and figure out what needs to happen four months before Worlds, works perfect for that event. The UCI will want this because it allows them to work out all of the wrinkles and come up with necessary contingency plans. I’m sure the UCI is big into contingency plans after the last time we had Worlds in the US.
Also, let’s not forget that Brook Watts, the race organizer for Fayettecross and Fayetteville World Championships has a penchant for Wednesday racing. He was the man behind the Cross Vegas World Cup and the Wednesday night racing in Nevada. Brook and Wednesdays just seem to go hand-in-hand.
So those are my picks. For your planning purposes:
Waterloo to Fayetteville is 715 miles.
Fayetteville to Iowa City is 537 miles.
See you there.
CXs and Os
For episode 6 of CXs and Os, we are featuring the iconic off-camber at the Namur Cyclocross World Cup. Has the legendary feature changed over the years to something less spectacular than it once was? We take a look at the history of the feature and what may or may not be different.
Huge thanks to Curtis White for letting us feature his pre-race recon ride. To see all of Curtis' pre-rides, subscribe to his channel.
Give it a watch and let us know your take in the comments. If you have a feature that you think deserves the CXs and Os treatment, let us know that, too. Also, please share with your friends and help us grow the CXHAIRS Bulletin family.
Maybe it's a bit stale, but one thing I find interesting is at Gavere, how Pidcock cracked Van Der Poel. If you look not at one particular feature, but the whole section between getting off the S/F pavement and Pit One, how Pidcock gapped Van Der Poel (and everyone else) in that section, forcing Van Der Poel to chase extra hard on that running section and afterwards. This also played into Pidcock's decision I would imagine to use Pit one not only because it gave a cleaner line into the descent, but if he was going to lose time changing in the pit, he usually had a cushion there. In any case, Pidcock was amazing on that section. Van Der Poel having to constantly chase took it's toll.