«If Van der Poel wants to get close to the level of last spring next year – said Philip Roodhooft, team manager of the Alpecin-Deceuninck – we will have to think very carefully about how to spend the winter. Cross-country racing should not negatively impact the classics season. Although I would definitely like to add this nuance: Mathieu still enjoys racing cyclocross."
It's party time again in Belgium. With the Lombardy and Veneto races sending road cyclists on holiday, The big cross season will start on Saturday in BeringenUCI regulations, according to which the World Cup takes precedence over all other challenges, have forced calendar rewrites and led to postponements and cancellations. For example, in the Superprestige the Boom classic was skipped, who surrenders in front of the protected date of the Cup in Dublin.
The UCI challenge will take place from the end of November to the end of January with 12 races: two less than last year. It will debut at Antwerp on November 24 and will continue with international events such as Dublin, Oristano and BenidormWaterloo, Val di Sole (which will be moved to Sardinia), and Flamanville will be missing. One of the new features this season will be the double-header races, with races on Saturday and Sunday. December 21-22 with Hulst and Zonhoven. January 25-26 in Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide.
A sport from Flanders
The Belgian calendar is very rich: with the dates of X2O Trophy and with the Exact Cross, there is no weekend without races, without fans and without rivers of beer. Yet Van der Poel's manager took advantage of the presentation of his Crelan-Corendon for to free the cross from the presence of the great champions and, at the same time, defend it from a dangerous international drift.
«I don't think gravel is a serious threat – he told Het Nieuwsblad – because Gravel is a sport to be played, cyclocross is a spectator sportGravel is only interesting when, like last Sunday at the World Championships in Leuven, there are stars at the start. It's certainly not a threat to cross-country; it will never have the same visibility. However, I realize that the new international calendar is too concerned with how we can improve cross-country in other countries. I say that First of all we need to make sure that it continues to live in Flanders, where it is very successful.Let's make sure we have the dates we need here. The number of matches broadcast live on television is the driving force behind the existence of professional teams.In other countries, however, cross-country has a hard time due to the lack of live television coverage. I have no problem with the World Cup being the most important ranking, but there must be space to ensure that the return for sponsors remains high».
Between cross and road
It's hard to understand unless you've been up there at least once, even just for a weekend, immersing yourself in the atmosphere of the racetracks. It's another world. It is a stadium-like crowd capable of staying all day along a ring of a few kilometers to watch them pass by, cheering them on at every step.Paying for tickets. Paying for drinks. Getting fired up in front of riders who perhaps don't run on the road and, when they do, can barely see the finish line. It doesn't matter.
"There are still many riders," Roodhooft continues, "who win races or achieve podium finishes in cross-country without breaking a sweat on the road. It's for them that we must try to keep this sport interesting. Better to be a successful cross-country athlete than a rider any su roadThis is more interesting from a sporting and economic point of view. It is clear that for bicycle manufacturers, gravel is more important, because it has many more potential customers: amateurs who ride in their free time. But cross-country has a different economic model, based on television and paying spectators. The fact that it could be included in the Olympic program It would give it a different image internationally. There would be more interest from riders and more budgets from federations and Olympic committees. But I don't want to overestimate its importance either. Has mountain biking become a global sport just because it's on the Olympic calendar?
Not just stars
Finally asked again on Van der Poel's calendar, Roodhooft added his point of view who, inevitably, will have to deal with the Dutchman's creativity and desire to win.
«If Mathieu said on Sunday that he didn't know yet – he says – he wasn't lying because we haven't discussed it yet. My personal feeling is that we will see him at work in cross country next winter too, but we certainly won't impose anything on him. We also realize that Mathieu is the symbol of this sport, but wherever he starts, something is always expected of him. I also think we should have the courage to look at this sport differently.. The cross with Mathieu e Van Aert They are a stellar show. But if there is only one of the two at the start, it often feels like watching a criterium. We must be happy with the riders who are present every week and we certainly can't downplay their performance."
