UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships: Tábor awaits new history makers

75th edition

The 75th edition brings the riders back to a venue that left its marks in history in 2001, 2010 and 2015.

After months of exhilaration through mud and sand, in iconic venues across oceans and continents, the cyclo-cross season is about to come to an end. Which means the whole world is about to come together for the most prestigious battles of the year, with the rainbow jerseys on the line!

The 2024 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships are celebrated in Tábor (Czechia) this weekend, with seven titles up for grabs over three days of action which will be broadcast live on TV:

  • Friday: team relay (12:30)

  • Saturday: Women Junior (11:00), Men Under 23 (12:30), Women Elite (14:30)

  • Sunday: Men Junior (11:00), Women Under 23 (12:30), Men Elite (14:30).

Racing will take place over a 2.950km circuit which the riders have grown to know over the years, although it has been slightly adjusted for this year’s UCI Worlds. Czech talents had the opportunity to face this exact course earlier in January at their National Championships.

As for the international stars heading to Tábor, they know the venue from the different editions of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. Some - especially Dutch superstar Mathieu Van der Poel - also have great memories from previous UCI Worlds held there.

A place to make history

This year marks the 75th edition of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, and the fourth in Tábor, where fans are used to witnessing history in the making.

In 2001, Belgium’s Erwin Vervecken took the first of his three rainbow jerseys, while supremely versatile talent Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany) powered to her second Women Elite title (eventually going on to win four).

Nine years later, Czechia’s own Zdeněk Štybar claimed his first of three Men Elite UCI World titles, while Dutchwoman Marianne Vos won the Women Elite race. It was her third of an incredible six consecutive rainbow jerseys. To date, Vos (aka the “GOAT”) has a total of eight UCI Cyclo-cross World Championship wins to her name (2006, 2009-2014, 2022) as well as five rainbow jerseys across road and track.

In 2015, at the third edition of the UCI Worlds to be held in Tábor, Van der Poel and Wout van Aert burst into the Elite ranks, with the Dutchman, at 20 years of age, claiming his first Elite title while his Belgian rival took silver.

Among the main contenders in 2024, Michael Vanthourenhout (winner of the Men Under 23 race), his runner-up Laurens Sweeck and Eli Iserbyt (silver in the Men Junior category) already shone in Tábor nine years ago.

As for the Women Elite podium, it was loaded with stars and laurels in 2015. France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the cyclo-cross rainbow jersey a few months after her first Elite titles on the road and in mountain bike. She was joined on the podium by Belgium’s Sanne Cant, who went on to win three titles (2017-19) and Vos.

Stars dream of the rainbow

As he returns to Tábor, Van der Poel aims to further cement his unique place in the legend of the sport. The Oranje icon now holds five Men Elite UCI cyclo-cross crowns, like Albert Zweifel, André Dufraisse and Renato Longo before him. In the men’s ranks, only Eric De Vlaeminck remains ahead with his seven victories between 1966 and 1973.

The last four editions of the Women Elite race have been won by four different Dutchwomen… If Fem van Empel retains the title she conquered in 2023, she will be the youngest ever with multiple crowns, ahead of Marianne Vos (at 21 years and 5 months, compared to 21 years, 8 months and 19 days).

The current dominance of Dutch women is no surprise following Women Under 23 racing at recent editions of the UCI Worlds, which saw successive victories for Van Empel (2021), Puck Pieterse (2022) and Shirin van Anrooij (2023). Can Leonie Bentveld or Lauren Molengraaf pursue the Oranje legacy? Great Britain's Zoe Bäckstedt and Luxembourg's Marie Schreiber are both in impressive form.

Tibor Del Grosso is another Dutch talent ready to shine this year in Tábor. He will need to resist Belgian competitors such as Emiel Verstrynge and Jente Michels, his runners-up in the Under-23 category of the 2023-2024 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup.

The Men Junior season has been dominated by an emerging Italian star, Stefano Viezzi (aiming to succeed his compatriot Davide Malacarne, winner at the 2005 UCI Worlds after he winning the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup), and a Frenchman, Aubin Sparfel (following the example set by Léo Bisiaux, who was dominant last year). They are the hot favourites for another duel in Tábor.

In the Women Junior ranks, the first three battles for the rainbow jersey crowned riders from three different nationalities. Can Cat Ferguson emulate Zoe Bäckstedt (2022)? Will Célia Gery (bronze in 2023) step up to a first French gold? Viktória Chladonová (Slovakia) will give everything to get the better of them, one week after her maiden UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup victory.