'The whole system is flawed' – Cyclo-cross riders call for reform amid scheduling drama

For the second year in succession, cyclo-cross' most prestigious series, the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, will take place in Dublin, Ireland this coming weekend. After a glorious debut that brought out more than 30,000 fans last year, hopes were initially high for its return in the 2023/24 campaign.

However, a series of unfortunate events has served to overshadow the race in recent weeks, with a combination of factors leading to a weakened start list for Sunday's races, and UCI President David Lappartient causing a stir amongst riders with comments alluding to mandatory participation in World Cup rounds.

Whilst Lappartient's comments may have been made off the cuff and should be nuanced by the fact he was complaining more about riders prioritising national races over World Cup rounds – rather than targeting riders who skip races in order to rest – the UCI's eagerness to shake up the wider cycling calendar is more than apparent.

• Read more: UCI threaten cyclo-cross riders with Worlds exclusion for missing World Cups

The World Cup is the most valuable series in cyclo-cross, but of course, the sport is nothing without its riders, and Lars van der Haar is one of a number of riders who will not be on the start line in Dublin on Sunday, who recently spoke to GCN about the issues that have surfaced in recent weeks.

Once as short as six rounds, then nine rounds, and, since 2020, 14 rounds in length, the World Cup has quickly expanded in recent years and now features weekends in seven different countries. Lappartient's comments were sparked by Thibau Nys' (Baloise Trek Lions) absence from the Dendermonde World Cup two weekends ago, but the young Belgian's decision was nothing out of the ordinary.

"I think this uproar has been somewhat of a storm in a teacup," said Van der Haar. "[The UCI] panicked but everybody has been skipping World Cups for five years since they added more rounds. Before that, you didn’t think about skipping but now everybody will skip one or two here or there."

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Jens Dekker is currently out of action with a broken radius, but returned to riding outside on Tuesday

Now 32, Van der Haar has been well-positioned to see the change in 'cross scheduling since he first started racing as an under-19 in 2007. However, his comments are supported by a rider of the next generation, Jens Dekker, who is making his comeback to the sport this winter and racing without the support of a UCI team.

"The whole schedule is flawed from the beginning when they introduced these 14 weekends of racing," the 24-year-old Dekker said to GCN. "That is just not how the cyclo-cross season operates and it has never done like that.

"In my view, it is just a fundamentally flawed schedule and that’s why people are choosing to skip. You can’t just race for 14 weekends and keep the same level; you have to train somewhere and rest as well.

"Traditionally in the late 2000s and early 2010s, all the big riders took two weeks off from racing and went to Spain to train," he continued. "There would be a couple of smaller races in Belgium that some of the B and C riders did, but the big names trained and rested in Spain – basically what the Baloise Trek Lions riders are doing now."

It is true that Van der Haar will be one of the Baloise Trek Lions riders heading to Mallorca to train from 5-14 December – which will result in the Dutchman skipping the World Cup in Italy's Val di Sole – but for Van der Haar, it is the logistics as much as anything that put him off racing in Dublin.

• Read more: UCI follows through with plans to monitor cyclo-cross riders' participation at World Cups

High costs, Brexit formalities and poor scheduling detract riders from Dublin World Cup

Last year's World Cup in Dublin was preceded by the Exact Cross in Essen on the Saturday, which made things a lot simpler. The Exact Cross is not a general classification series and thus riders could skip it with no second thought in order to arrive in Dublin with days to spare.

This time around, the X2O Badkamers Trofee in Kortrijk is due to take place on Saturday and those chasing the overall title in both the X2O and World Cup are presented with a dilemma.

Some teams such as Baloise Trek Lions are taking practically no riders to either event, whilst Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal will be rushing about to cart plenty of their riders from Kortrijk to Ireland on Saturday evening.

For Van der Haar, the complexities of the operation were too much.

"We planned it all out but, in the end, I was just not happy with how I would have to do it, because I would need to send my parents with two bikes already to Dublin, then I would have to do Kortrijk with two bikes," he said.

"But in the end, you’re doing both races halfway and if it is going to be muddy – which is probably is going to be – then you may not have enough with two bikes. It is possible, but it would have been such a big stress that I decided with the team to skip Dublin."

© Sprint Cycling Agency

Wout van Aert won last year's World Cup in Dublin, but despite Van der Haar admitting that he "loved Dublin," he won't be back this time around

It is not only the X2O that presents a challenge for riders hoping to ride in Dublin, but also the scheduling of the races on either side of this weekend. For riders such as Van der Haar, they or their teams are able to front up the €1,000-1,400 needed to travel to Dublin last year, but for those without the same support system, like privateer Dekker, Dublin has become financially unviable this year.

"For me, financially, it is almost impossible to go away for five weeks, which was the original schedule if you did the France-Ireland-France-Italy trip," explained Dekker – with the Troyes World Cup preceding Dublin, and Flamanville and Val di Sole soon to follow in the coming weeks.

"I have to pay a mechanic to do that and it’s just not possible, it is too much money, it is a full month’s salary basically. Most riders rely on volunteers to do that, but even then, people can’t take a month off from work to just travel around Europe."

The pinch on the pocket has been felt not just by riders, but by national organisations, too. Dutch national coach Gerben de Knegt revealed to Wielerflits this week that their expenses for eight youth riders exceeded €15,000, whilst it was roughly half for Troyes last weekend and will be a third of this cost but for 10 extra riders in Namur next month.

Whether it be the soaring costs due to Brexit, the expenses required to travel from one country to another in Europe for a month, or the necessity to train throughout the winter, 14 rounds of the World Cup are seemingly less viable as the years go by. But what do the riders think of Lappartient's solution, and how can cyclo-cross solve this dilemma?

Fewer rounds, not fewer countries, say Van der Haar and Dekker

As Van der Haar was quick to note, plenty has been said by riders already in the media when it comes to Lappartient's comments, but his judgement remained clear.

"I do not think David Lappartient’s plans are the way to go, but let’s sit together and make the World Cup great again – it is as simple as that."

For the time being, the UCI has yet to contact either Van der Haar or Dekker, but the former did reveal that communication over the latest press release has taken place between the UCI and Flanders Classics.

The race organisers tend to have more of an ear to the riders and will no doubt be aware of concerns over riders being forced to choose between national events and World Cup rounds, should Lappartient's plans come to pass.

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Lappartient's criticism of riders prioritising national events over the World Cups could leave many, like Spain's Felipe Orts, in a sticky situation

"My main point is that if you’re a French rider, a Spanish rider or an Italian rider, you have your local sponsors and you have to race in that country sometimes," noted Dekker. "Because that is where the sponsors get their return on investment and, at this point, if that rule gets passed on, you’re basically forcing someone like Felipe Orts to choose between having sponsors or racing the World Championships."

Both Dekker and Van der Haar were in agreement that reducing the number of CX World Cup rounds would be beneficial, to alleviate financial costs and allow riders the opportunity to rest and train, without the fear of falling foul of the UCI's ire.

Cyclo-cross is, of course, rooted in the heartlands of Belgium and the Netherlands, but neither rider wishes to cut international rounds in order to trim the calendar. As Tom Van Damme, Chairman of Belgian Cycling, suggested to Het Laatste Nieuws this week, perhaps it is time to reduce the number of World Cup rounds in Belgium.

"To be honest, I’m kind of in favour of having one World Cup round per country," agreed Dekker. "That wouldn’t mean 14 rounds, it would probably be a maximum of 10 with some growth opportunity in the next couple of years. That would probably be a better system to have a little less concentration."

Van der Haar was in agreement: "I think with eight or nine World Cups between October and the Worlds is the best way to go."

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Lars Van der Haar: 'I will do Flamanville and then after that, I will go to Mallorca and I will skip Val di Sole'

The Dutchman will be among a host of riders missing from Dublin this weekend, with the likes of Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Fem van Empel (Jumbo-Visma) and Joris Nieuwenhuis (Baloise Trek Lions) also absent.

With only Eli Iserbyt – the current World Cup leader – likely to ride all of the World Cup rounds, Van der Haar remains confident of securing a top three overall by the end of the season, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that cyclo-cross is coming to a crossroads in terms of reform.

"I think they just have to look at how to make it a better suiting calendar. But that is just my opinion, I know there are also different opinions and I think we have to get all those opinions together and make something new."

Trek

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