Iserbyt’s cyclo-cross season: “The UCI World Cup is my most important goal”

Eli Iserbyt is a champion in a hurry.

The youngest ever Men-Under 23 cyclo-cross UCI World Champion (in 2016, before he claimed another rainbow jersey in the same category in 2018) is racking up victories in the Elite rank this autumn. Five rounds into the 2021-2022 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, the 24-year-old rider from Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal talks about his reaction and ambitions after “the biggest weekend of [his] career so far”.

You’re just coming off two more successes in Belgium: the UCI World Cup round in Overijse and the Class 1.1 Koppenbergcross… are you unstoppable right now?

Eli Iserbyt: These two races suited me really well, with a lot of elevation, and the weather was good for me as well. I felt confident. Overijse was a big goal for me this season as it’s one of the biggest races in cyclo-cross. To win there for the first time was immense. And I think I was still in a victorious mood the next day on the Koppenberg and everything went perfectly for me. If you had told me last week I would win these two races, it would have seemed crazy, but I’m very happy with those victories. I think this has been the biggest weekend of my career so far.

That makes it eight victories for you in the recent weeks. Is it your best season so far?

E.I.: Yes, I think so. Especially, as I’m riding well on different types of courses. The other years, I would always have bad results between the good ones, but this year it’s perfect. I’ve had one race where I was not on the podium. I’m pretty happy with that consistency and that’s what I want to do in my career.

How do you want to build on this form with the coming events?

E.I.: I want to keep the momentum going for as long as possible. The European Championships [on 7 November] are very important to me, and then every weekend I want to do well in the UCI World Cup races. And I also want to do well in the Belgian events. The UCI World Cup is the most important goal for me this season, so my focus is on these races.

"We can be delighted with the track of the World Championships"

You performed well in the first UCI World Cup rounds of the season, in the USA. That’s also where you won your first Elite UCI World Cups, in 2019. How do you feel racing in America?

E.I.: I’m always very happy to go there. I deal with jet lag fairly well and it’s a country where I can just be myself. I build a bit more freshness, because there’s less training we can do over there. It’s a period of time that suits my body well. I like the races because the courses are usually pretty hard with tracks that suit my style of racing. I’m looking forward to the UCI World Championships in Fayetteville. The UCI World Cup was very well organised and I think it will be next level at the end of January.

What did you learn about the course at Fayetteville, where rainbow jerseys will be awarded this season?

E.I.: It depends a lot on the race conditions. The day before, we trained on a very dry, fast lap. It was explosive, with a high pace. And the next day, it was wet with lots of power sections. I think it’s a track that is good for most riders. Everyone can find a place where he’s better than others on the track. That’s really good for the UCI World Championships. The track is artificial, but it’s very well done. The first part is downhill and uphill, and then we have more twisty sections. We can be delighted to race on such a track. That’s not common in Belgium and that makes it interesting.

Now that you’re back in Europe, you’ve already raced five rounds of this season’s UCI World Cup. That’s as many as there were last year for the whole season…

E.I.: It feels really good. I was happy that we still had a UCI World Cup last year, but now it’s full on and it’s building up towards an even higher level, with more international competitors. I think this year is a very good start for the new World Cup and I’m looking forward to what’s next.

With 11 more rounds ahead of you, are you thinking about the overall victory?

E.I.: I think about it but I’m not racing to win it now. I’m just racing to win every race in the UCI World Cup. With the points system we have now, victories are very important, so I’m on a good track, but I know that if I struggle at some point, it’s important to take as many points as possible. I try to be smart already but I think the battle for the overall victory is something we’ll think of in the last three or four races.