We say cyclocross is the cycling discipline that prioritizes being nimble, overcoming barriers and adapting to hairpin changes of direction.
No season is testing this theory more than 2020.
Even before the first call-ups, the UCI World Cup season is leaving racers (and fans) with serious cases of whiplash.
The 2020/2021 UCI Cyclocross World Cup, originally scheduled for 14 events, then shortened in July to 11 events, revised last week to 6 events, is now down to just 5 events with new dates.
The COVID-19 pandemic is certainly taking its toll across the globe, and Europe’s “second wave” sees the region passing the United States for new cases in both absolute numbers and on a per-capita basis. The resurgence has also impacted the cyclocross schedule.
Notable in today’s announcement was the official cancelation of the Zonhoven World Cup, a fan-favorite due to its sand stadium.
The field scrambles up the steep wall of De Kuil. 2019 Superprestige Zonhoven. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
The new schedule pushes back the Overijse from November to January, and it bunnyhops from opening the season to closing the season. Now, the Tabor stop in the Czech Republic, opens the season on November 29, 2020.
The Wachtebeke stop on December 6 now moves to Dendermonde, but due to financial reasons rather than COVID-19 restrictions. The Flanders Classics organization explained the move:
“The fact that the provincial domain in Wachtebeke, after a decision of the delegate of recreational domains and the management of Puyenbroeck, is no longer made available free of charge for the promotion of cycling, is at the basis of the move”, says Jurgen Mettepenningen. “Renting a provincial domain from the beginning of the construction of the course to the end of its deconstruction is simply unaffordable. In Dendermonde, on the territory of the municipality of Grembergen to be precise, I have a location of no less than 75.000 square meters at my disposal, on which we can create an attractive, well-organized and very varied course.”
While we won’t bet money today’s schedule will be the final update, here’s the schedule as it stands:
Here is the revised 2020-2021 UCI Cyclocross World Cup schedule as it stands:
| Date | Venue | Categories | ||||
| ME | WE | – | – | – | ||
| ME | WE | MU | MJ | WJ | ||
| ME | WE | – | – | – | ||
| Tábor (CZE) | ME | WE | MU | MJ | WJ | |
| ME | WE | – | – | – | ||
| ME | WE | MU | MJ | WJ | ||
| 06.12.2020 | ME | WE | – | – | – | |
| ME | WE | – | – | – | ||
| ME | WE | – | – | – | ||
| 20.12.2020 | Namur (BEL) | ME | WE | MU | MJ | WJ |
| ME | WE | MU | MJ | WJ | ||
| 03.01.2021 | Hulst (NED) | ME | WE | – | – | – |
| ME | WE | MU | MJ | WJ | ||
| ME | WE | MU | MJ | WJ | ||
| 24.01.2021 | Overijse (BEL) | ME | WE | |||
As per the UCI:
Following the announcement on 7 October concerning the cancellation of a number of rounds of the 2020-2021 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup due to restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and Flanders Classics today announce the revised calendar for the series.
The new reduced calendar will consist of five rounds over a two-month period between 29 November 2020 and 24 January 2021. These decisions were taken after intensive discussions between the UCI, Flanders Classics and the local organisers.
The calendar of the 2020-2021 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup:
-
- 29 November 2020: Tabor, Czech Republic
- 20 December 2020: Namur, Belgium
- 27 December 2020: Dendermonde, Belgium
- 3 January 2021: Hulst, The Netherlands
- 24 January 2021: Overijse, Belgium
Tabor in the Czech Republic regularly hosts UCI cyclo-cross events (UCI World Cup and UCI World Championships). Namur is a great classic in the Walloon part of Belgium, while Dendermonde, Hulst and Overijse are new destinations in the series. Overijse, which will now host on its very beautiful course the UCI World Cup Finals (originally planned in Hoogerheide), is considered as the “mother of all cyclo-cross races”.
The UCI and Flanders Classics remind that the holding of UCI International Calendar events remains subject to the international health situation and the measures taken by the competent authorities in the countries hosting the cycling competitions.
Stay tuned as we keep you up to date on the ever-changing UCI cyclocross schedule.
