cycling: Cyclocross World Championship 2017 Preview: Favourites, Schedule, Live Streams

Cyclocross News: The Cyclocross World Championships 2017 will take place in Belvaux and Bieles in Luxembourg next weekend. The men's favorite roles are clearly divided, but the difficult conditions recently made a change of course necessary and could tip the scales, which could also make an outsider victory possible in the end. We provide an overview of the track, races, schedule and live streams.

The highlight of the cross season will take place in Luxembourg for the fourth time this year. In the small community of Belvaux (Luxembourgish: Bieles), the world elite will compete and fight for places on the podium. The two dominant nations are unsurprisingly Belgium and Holland - these two countries are home to most of the medal favorites of all starting classes. From a German point of view, however, Marcel Meisen could cause a surprise in the men's elite race.

Cyclocross World Championship 2017: The course - difficult, icy and unpredictable

This year's circuit, on which all races are held, is particularly demanding in the second half, even when the conditions are good, with many technical points and exhausting carrying passages. The difficult weather and soil conditions in Luxembourg make the starting conditions even more difficult. In the last few weeks there have been temperatures well below freezing point, the ground is completely frozen and icy in places and very treacherous and slippery. A sloping passage was temporarily defused by the UCI and the organizer this morning, after there had been repeated falls during the training runs.

Ca s'announce bien ces championnats du moone ! #Bieles2017 pic.twitter.com/Onkp38JWRU

— Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) 26 January 2017

The modified route now allows drivers to take the descent straight down and change direction there. For the time being, however, the route modification only applies to the races on Saturday, i.e. for the juniors and women.

Cyclocross World Championship 2017: The favorites – a chance for the underdogs?

Before the men's elite race starts on Sunday at 15:00 p.m., the world's best cross specialists will compete in four other classes. The juniors start on Saturday morning and victory here goes exclusively to 17-year-old Brit Thomas Pidcock, who, as the reigning European champion, is the clear favorite in the race. The favorite in the women's U23 race also comes from Great Britain: 19-year-old Evie Richards already won the women's U23 premiere last year, which was overshadowed by the Femke Van den Driessche doping case.

An old acquaintance is preparing on Saturday afternoon to reach for the title again after a two-year break. Marianne Vos is back at her top level and will start in Bieles as the clear favorite, especially since her toughest competitor in the World Cup, the defending champion Thalita de Jong, has to sit out injured.

When the men start on Sunday, the favorites will once again come from the cross-traditional nations of Belgium and the Netherlands. In the U23s it will be tight on the podium: We can look forward to a three-way battle between the in-form defending champion Eli Iserbyt from Belgium, the reigning European champion Quinten Hermans (also from Belgium) and the World Cup winner Joris Nieuwenhuis from the Netherlands.

The big showdown in the men's elite race finally starts on Sunday afternoon when it's once again Wout van Aert against Mathieu van der Poel. Van Aert will do everything to defend his title and can probably count on the strongest team that will start with a total of seven starters. His Dutch challenger will go into the title fight with five team-mates, including former world champion Lars Boom and last year's runner-up Lars van der Haar. The German champion Marcel Meisen also has outsider chances of a place on the podium.

start lists

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Cyclocross World Championship 2017: schedule and live streams

Since there is still no TV broadcaster in this country that is trying to get the broadcasting rights of the Cyclocross World Championship, you can follow all the races in the official YouTube live streams of the UCI, as in previous years. In addition to the overview below, you will also find a link to the broadcast on Velomotion at the appropriate time.