[Words by Steve Thomas - Photography from Simon Wilkinson and Alexwhitehead - SWpix]

The long and chilled French UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championship weekend of dirty racing got off to a golden start in Lievin for the British team, when last Friday afternoon the national Mixed Team Relay squad paced their strategy to perfection to win the opening title race of the weekend. After finishing second last year, hopes were on hitting the top spot – although many feared the fast Frenchies on their frosted home turf, although on the day they came home in third spot, behind the Italian sextet and the Brits.

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The British team held to their pre-race strategy, being the only team of the 10 nations lined up to send out a female rider first – and who could blame them when she happened to be Zoe Backstedt? With Cat Ferguson, Zoe Roche, and Oscar Amey holding strong throughout, it was Elite rider Thomas Mein who took on the responsibility of finishing things off, and he did so in fine style by jumping away from his rivals to take glory by a skinny two seconds from the Italian’s last man standing.

SW6_3560.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Sadly, the Netherlands, who would arguably be the strongest team in the race, chose once again not to start the race, seemingly preferring to save their riders for the main individual title races that would follow over the next two days.

Women’s races

Should you look at the final results of Elite Woman’s title race you may think that you’d been sucked into some vortex scenario, as the top three finishers were the same as in 2024. Things ended in an orange flush of the podium by the Netherlands, as Fem van Emple took her third title in a row, just ahead of her older arch-rival Lucinda Brand, with the ever-bubbly and bold Puck Pieterse in third. 

However, the results certainly did not tell the story of the slippery and fraught battle that took place in the thawing fields of Lieven. After a frosty and faster going morning of racing for the Junior Women’s and Men’s U23 racers, the sun blessed the crowd and cursed the riders – or at least it did for those who had prepped their bikes and lines for harder stuff. From the off, it was Pieterse who took the slippery French bull by the horns, with Van Empel tracking here wisely and assuredly while Brand slowly recovered from her familiar slow start. 

AW6_9631.jpg, by Liam Mercer

It was an amazing and tense battle, from both sides of the tape, and one where strategy and tactics were on full display, and crucial in the outcome. The lead changed hands between the trio right through, although Pieterse was clinging on by the ever-stretching elastic of her shorts. Brand was powering on in diesel style at any given opening, while Van Emple was showing amazing speed and flare – despite having race-long issues with her pedals not clipping in.

Into the last lap and it was Brand on the run, having skipped a bike change and taken the lead. With less than a third of a lap left,  Van Empel caught her. It was all or nothing from Brand, who would likely prove no match for the younger rival in a sprint and who was a little sketchy in comparison on a short toe-tipping dip into the finish. On the last descent, Brand tried to jump past Van Empel on a descent, but she ran into the tapes – and was not best pleased about it or Van Empel’s line (which seemed fair enough). It was nose-to-nose into the final dip, but Brand dropped her foot for a fraction of a second longer than Van Empel, who raced clear to victory.

On the same Saturday morning, the Junior Women’s race took place, with France’s Lise Revol taking the win in a tight finish with Czech rider Barbora Bukovska, who had sprinted her arms for what she assumed to be the win a lap earlier. Britain’s Arabella Blackburn finished 17th, Zoe Roche 18th and Ellie Mitchinson 23rd.

SW6_3053.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Sunday, muddy Sunday; by the time the Under 23 Women’s race got underway the going was getting slippier by the lap, catching several riders a little left of centre, as had happened the previous day. Amongst those who had made a faster and harder rolling tyre start choice was Britain’s defending Champion Zoe Backstedt, who started as a clear favourite for her second U23 Cyclo-Cross title. After a slightly sketchy start she switched to a lower tyre pressure, and from that moment on her title defence hardly ever looked in danger. Into the last 2 laps, the race-long chaser – Marie Schreiber of Luxembourg, was starting to close in on Backstedt’s lead, though everything was under control, and she crossed the line 39 seconds ahead to take the win. 

The Brits rounded up a great race with Ella Maclean-Howell in eighth, Imogen Wolf in ninth, and Cat Ferguson in 13th place, which bodes well for the future depth of the British U23 girls.  As for Backstedt’s cross-purpose ahead? This year she will focus more on the road, although as she will still be eligible to defend her U23 title again next year, nothing is written in the mud yet.

Men’s races

The grand finale of the weekend was the Elite Men’s race, where the six-time champion in the event, and all-round racing supremo, Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands started as odds-on favourite. Challenging MVDP in the tile race was always going to be a long shot, although luckily, at the 11th hour, his arch-rival Wout van Aert of Belgium changed his road pre-season training plans and signed up to wrestle it out with his nemesis in the French mud.

Apart from a few fleeting seconds, the Dutchman took the head of the race early in the first lap, and that was effectively it – race over. Call it spectacular, call it boring – that’s all a matter of opinion, but MVDP’s display was one of pure excellence, and he looked to be in a different league to his rivals, who slithered in vain behind as his opening lap 20-second gap stretched to a minute at the bell. 

AW7_0028.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Behind MVDP, there was a predictable old-school cyclo-cross battle taking place, with the race for second being led for much of the race by Joris Nieuwenhuis of the Netherlands and young Belgian ace Thibaut Nys. Having started back on the fourth row of the grid WVA was off the pace from the start, clawing back from the mid-20s lap by lap, and although he was on fine form. 

By the time he got back to the chase for second, it was into the second half of the race – and MVDP was cruising some 45 seconds clear. Barring a major accident by him, Wout’s dig for gold was set to be a scrape for silver – which is where he ended up, adding another silver disc to his growing collection, while Nys dropped Nieuwenhuis on the last lap to claim bronze. Behind them was Thomas Mein finishing as best Brit in 18th spot, with Cameron Mason in 26th.

With the World Championships taking place in Hulst (Netherlands) next year, we would expect MVDP to attempt an eighth victory, which would be more than any other Elite/Professional racer has ever achieved. That said, his prime off-road target for this year is firmly stuck to his fridge door – that of winning the, so far, elusive XCO mountain bike world title, and who would bet against him?

Tibor Del Grosso of the Netherlands took home the Under 23 title on Saturday, ahead of the Belgian duo of Kay De Bruyckere and Jente Michels, while no British rider was selected to take part. In the Men’s Junior race, it was an Italian Mattia Agostinaccio who took a solo victory, with his teammate Fiilppo Grigolini in third spot, separated by Frenchman Soren Joumard Bruyere. Britain’s Oscar Amey took a great sixth place, with teammate Milo Wills in 10th.

All in all, it was a classic old-school French-flavoured weekend of cyclo-cross racing, with absolutely huge and amazing crowds, and one with few surprises on the result boards. For the Brits? All in all a solid weekend, although having a fuller team roster would have been good to see.

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