This year, the Cyclocross World Championships will take place from Friday 3 to Sunday 5 February in Hoogerheide, Netherlands.
There will be seven races scheduled over the three days, including the men’s and women’s championships as well as under-23s races.
The championships will test the best of the best’s cyclocross skills. If you’re not lucky enough to see the action in person, we’ve put together this guide on how to watch the Cyclocross World Championships in the UK, US and other territories.
Race schedule and favourites
Friday’s race is the team relay, starting at 12.30pm CET.
The individual cyclocross racing gets started on Saturday 4 February with the junior women’s race at 11am CET, the under-23 men’s race at 1pm CET and the women’s elite race at 3pm CET.
Sunday’s race programme starts with the men’s junior race at 11am CET, followed by the women’s under-23 category at 1pm CET. Racing culminates with the elite men’s race at 3pm CET.
The Hoogerheide course has featured regularly on the cyclocross schedule, hosting rounds of the UCI World Cup race series in 2020 and 2022, and the World Championships in 2014.
Eight-time world champion Marianne Vos is slated to take to the start line in the women’s elite race to defend her title. Otherwise, look out for teammate Fem van Empel, who has just clinched the UCI World Cup series, and at U-23 level for Shirin van Anrooij, who has also had a great season, for an all-Dutch line-up of favourites.
In previous years, the men’s elite race has been dominated by the eternal rivalry between four-time winner Mathieu van der Poel and three-time champion Wout van Aert. This looks to be repeated this year, with both expected to take part. Van Aert has had the stronger season so far, but don’t rule out van der Poel’s killer instinct to see him to a fifth win.
The 2022 world champion Tom Pidcock is not defending his title this year, after he won in Arkansas, USA. Cyclocross specialists such as Eli Iserbyt and Laurens Sweeck shouldn’t be overlooked, however.
How to watch the Cyclocross World Championships 2023
How can I watch the UCI Cyclocross World Championships 2023 live in the UK?
Eurosport will show live coverage of all the UCI Cyclocross World Championship races except the relay race on Friday and, as usual, there’s an on-demand option.
Eurosport is being subsumed into Discovery+, with a subscription costing £6.99 per month or £59.99 per year. It’s available on a range of platforms including tablets, mobile, TV with Chromecast or AirPlay, Android TV or Apple TV.
You can also watch the UCI World Championship racing on GCN+. A monthly subscription to GCN+ costs £6.99, the same as Discovery+; an annual subscription to GCN+ costs £39.99.
How can I watch the UCI Cyclocross World Championships 2023 live in the US?
You can watch the UCI Cyclocross World Championships live and on-demand in the US on FloBikes, with subscription options costing from $12.49 a month.
Coverage time is still showing TBD, but the elite women’s race on Saturday and men’s race on Sunday start at 9am on the East Coast and 6am Pacific time.
How else can I watch the UCI Cyclocross World Championships 2023?
There’s live terrestrial coverage in many European countries, so if you’ve got a VPN you may be able to log into a broadcaster’s website and watch live. Try Rai in Italy or FranceTV in France.
How can I watch the UCI Cyclocross World Championships 2023 if I can’t watch live coverage?
In previous years, the UCI has streamed the entire event on its site, but this year it looks as if you’ll only be able to watch highlights on its cyclocross YouTube channel. The Allcycling YouTube channel also often has cyclocross coverage, including full races, and there are bound to be options posted that will allow you to watch the whole race.
