Preview: Cyclocross Gullegem 2024 – Golden opportunity without Van der Poel and Van Aert

Nick Doup •
Thursday January 4, 2024 at 7:00 AM

The busy Christmas period comes to an end this weekend with the Hexia Cross Gullegem (Saturday) and the Zonhoven World Cup (Sunday). The cyclo-cross in Gullegem is the odd one out in this phase, because it falls exactly between Koksijde and Zonhoven. Partly because of this, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert are missing. A golden opportunity for the competition, especially now that Tom Pidcock has also canceled. CyclingFlits looks ahead to the battle for men and women.

History

Latest winners in Gullegem
Men
2023: Wout van Aert
2022: Tom Pidcock
2021: Mathieu van der Poel
2020: Mathieu van der Poel
2019: Mathieu van der Poel
2018: Nick Van De Kerckhove

Women
2023: Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado
2022: Shirin van Anrooij
2021: Blanka Kata Vas
2020: Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado
2019: Loes Sels
2018: Jolien Verschueren (†)

Last year

Super prestige Gullegem 2023
Result men
1. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in 1h03m05s
2. Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) at 22s
3. Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) at 41s
4. Lars van der Haar (Baloise-Trek Lions) at 53s
5. Kevin Kuhn (Tormans) op 1m33s

Super prestige Gullegem
Women’s results
1. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
2. Inge van der Heijden (777) at 35s
3. Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) on 45s
4. Zoe Bäckstedt (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) on 1m13s
5. Sanne Cant (Crelan-Fristads) at 1m54s

Course

Gullegem is essentially a typical West Flemish meadow cross, interrupted halfway by an artificial sandpit. There is currently no course to win a main prize, but in the future the organizers hope to work on further embellishing the course. However, the course is located in ‘park area’ and in such zones you cannot simply plant an extra hill here and there. Permits are required for this.

In total, this year’s circuit is about 2,600 meters long. The route is virtually the same as that of 2022 and 2023. “There are no major adjustments. There is an extra bridge, as well as an additional technical passage at the VIP tent,” says Kevin Defieuw, press officer in Gullegem.

Two years ago, the bars were placed in the meadow phase, after the sandpit, but now they are placed even later in the round. The beams are located after the hill zone and just before the bridge with stairs. The second passage to the material station follows shortly afterwards. That will not be decisive, that is mainly the weather during and especially before the cyclo-cross.

The weather has caused quite a few concerns for the organization in West Flanders, because on Wednesday the course was partly flooded due to all the rainfall. “The match is certainly not in jeopardy. We are closely monitoring the situation, because during a drier period the water level can drop quickly. If that is not the case, we will adjust the route. After all, it concerns a small, lower part of the course,” Defieuw said.

Program and information

Program Saturday January 6, 2024
09.30 hours: G-cyclocross
10.15 am: Newcomers men
11.15 am: Junior men
12.30: Junior women
1:45 p.m.: Elite women
3 p.m.: Elite men and U23 men

Location
Europalaan, Gullegem

Public information
A ticket costs 13 euros at the box office. Tickets are also available online through pre-sale on the organization’s website for 10 euros. Children up to 12 years old can enter for free.

Website organization

Favorites men

You don’t have to beat anyone who isn’t there. And Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert of all people are both missing here. The world champion skips Gullegem to start in Zonhoven on Sunday after the Thursday cross of Koksijde. Van Aert, in turn, gives priority to a training camp with the road team, so he will only return to cross country in Benidorm. Who will benefit from this golden opportunity?

Tom Pidcock’s name had been on the start list for some time and so we had already written down our top favorite, but on Wednesday it became clear that he had canceled sick for the Koksijde cross. Gullegem also received a cancellation from the part-time crosser from INEOS Grenadiers, which means that the red carpet is completely laid out for a ‘new’ winner.

So hunted Michael Vanthourenhout for example on his second victory of this winter. The leader of Pauwels already managed to win Sauzen-Bingoal at the European Championships. He then suffered a setback due to shoulder pain, but with places of honor in Diegem (fourth), Hulst (ninth) and Baal (fifth) he seems to have taken the road to the top.

Thibau Nys is the next candidate for victory in Gullegem. The young lad from the Baloise Trek Lions camp took one in December break and suffered a painful fall in Diegem just before New Year’s. In the Grand Prix of father Sven Nys, the 21-year-old rider finished sixth, less than 20 seconds behind fourth place. That was in the mud, and we will see that again in Gullegem. Can Nys go for his fourth victory of this winter?

Then there are more than enough names that can hope for the podium if they perform well. Gianni Vermeersch in Felipe Orts for example. In the Azencross Loenhout, the two already fought a fierce duel for second place behind Van der Poel, a muddy battle that was won by the Flemish. They can meet each other again in Gullegem, although they will also be British champions Cameron Mason would like to have a shot at the podium. He has had difficulty with this since the ‘big ones’ started participating, but after his second place in the Superprestige Boom he will be looking for personal success again.

In addition, we look forward with interest to the performances of Tom Meeusen, Corné van Kessel, the man with his own team Zdenek Stybar and the Frenchman Clément Venturini.

Favorites according to WielerFlits
*** Michael Vanthourenhout
** Thibau Nys, Gianni Vermeersch
* Felipe Orts, Cameron Mason, Tom Meeusen

Favorites women

Among the women, there are also a number of world leaders who said ‘no’ to an invitation from the organization in Gullegem. Who is there? Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado starts as absolute top favorite. She has been on a high form this season and she has also been able to compete against the strong form of Fem van Empel and Puck Pieterse in recent weeks. In Gullegem she gets an opportunity for an open goal. Surely that has to be in for the leader of Alpecin-Deceuninck?

If there is going to be some competition for Alvarado, it will come from Blanka Kata Vas, Inge van der Heijden of de power van Zoe Backstedt. The Hungarian champion Vas had an unfortunate run-up to the winter, but is now increasingly competing at the front, as evidenced by her places of honor in Gavere (fifth), Diegem (fourth) and Hulst (seventh). Can she find even more people in this decimated field among the Dutch violence around her?

Van der Heijden recently finished third in Heusden-Zolder and in Diegem. During this soaking wet winter period, Bäckstedt can enjoy the tough courses, such as those in Gullegem. The same goes for Snow Queen Manon Baker, winner in Val di Sole. Aniek van Alphen often comes out on top in these smaller competitions, but winning seems a step too high for her.

For the star distribution, we also looked with great interest at Marion Norbert Riberolle, for whom the difficult course in Gullegem should be well suited. In the run-up to the Belgian Championships, she will want to show Sanne Cant and Laura Verdonschat that the competition will be fierce. Clara Honsinger was good in Baal (fifth), but it is difficult to estimate what her form will be. Finally, we also find road racer Yara Kastelijn on the start list.

Favorites according to WielerFlits
*** Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado
** Blanka Kata Vas, Inge van der Heijden
* Zoe Bäckstedt, Manon Bakker, Clara Honsinger

Weather and TV

According to Meteorologist the weather will be a bit colder in this first week of January. The maximum temperature in the afternoon on Saturday is 5 degrees Celsius, but a northerly wind makes it feel a bit fresher. The chance of precipitation is expected to be more than 50%.

The Belgian channels of Telenet Play Sports (from 1.15 pm) and Next Pickx+ (from 1:30 p.m.) will broadcast the match live, as well as Eurosport 1 and its online channels Eurosport.nl in Discovery+. The broadcasts for women and men start at 1:40 PM and 2:55 PM.