Advertisement

For the last stop of the 2022-2023 UCI Cyclocross World Cup season, racers will be converging in Besançon, France. The last time we were here, Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal) took first and won the overall 2021-2022 UCI World Cup.

Iserbyt will be defending his race title this year, but the series title is locked up by former teammate Laurens Sweeck.

Elite Men

Unfortunately, the last race will not end with the Big Three competing. Only Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) will be attending the race, while Pidcock is done for the season, and Wout van Aert stayed local to crush the competition in Hamme.

Here are some of the prominent racers that will be attending the race:

  1. Eli Iserbyt
  2. Belgian National Championship Silver medalist Laurens Sweeck (Crelan – Fristads)
  3. Belgian National Champion Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal)
  4. Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions)
  5. Mathieu van der Poel

Iserbyt and Van der Haar continue their rivalry from Saturday’s X2o Badkammers Trofee, where Iserbyt took second behind Van Aert.

Van der Poel is the clear favorite, and should be looking to match rival Van Aert’s dominant ride on Saturday in Hamme.

Four North Americans will be attending the race.

Three Americans will be racing.

  1. Jonathan Anderson
  2. Scott Funston
  3. Curtis White

Michael van den Ham will be the only Canadian racing.

The overall winner is guaranteed to be Sweeck with his 46-point lead.

See the full start list below.

2023 UCI World Cup Besançon Start List Elite Men

U23 Men

Thibau Nys will not be attending the race since he has already locked down the overall title.

Here are some of the top racers who will be attending the race:

  1. Jente Michels
  2. Tibor Del Grosso

Three North Americans will be attending the race.

Andrew Strohmeyer will be the only American attending the race.

Two Canadians will be racing.

  1. Evan Russell
  2. Cody Scott

After winning every U23 World Cup race this season, Thibau Nys has a dominant lead of 64 points.

See the full start list below.

2023 UCI World Cup Besançon Start List U23 Men

Junior Men

Current second place Guus van den Eijnden will not be attending the race. He will not be challenging Léo Bisiaux for first or defending his second place.

Ten North Americans will be attending the event.

Six Americans will be racing.

  1. Andrew August
  2. Daniel English
  3. Ben Stokes
  4. Miles Mattern
  5. Magnus White
  6. David Thompson

Four Canadians will be racing as well.

  1. Ian Ackert
  2. Mika Comaniuk
  3. Filipe Duarte
  4. Cam Mccallum

The overall winner is still up for grabs even if the chance is slim to none. Bisiaux is a whopping 35 points ahead of Viktor Candenberghe. Candenberghe needs to get first and Bisiaux has to finish 22nd or lower to change the top two places in the standings.

See the full start list below.

2023 UCI World Cup Besançon Start List Junior Men