Cyclo-cross is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter, and consist of many laps of a short course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike while navigating the obstruction and remount. Races for senior categories are generally between 40 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions. The sport is strongest in the traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
Mountain bike racing is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Durango, Colorado. The first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series took place in 1988. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North America—and was sponsored by Grundig. Cross-country racing was the only World Cup sport at this time. In 1993, a six-event downhill World Cup was introduced. In 1996, cross-country mountain biking events were added to the Olympic Games. In 2006, cross-country mountain biking events became part of the World Deaf Cycling Championships for the first time in San Francisco, USA.
Katie Compton is an American former bicycle racer. She specialized in cyclo-cross racing and is a 15-time national champion. Compton formerly piloted a tandem with a blind partner in Paralympic events.
Marianne Vos is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam Team Jumbo–Visma.
The UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships are the world championships for cyclo-cross organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Starting in 2020, six events are organized each year – men's elite, women's elite, men's under 23, women's under 23, men's under 18, and women's under 18. Traditionally, the elite events are held on a Sunday with the other events held on the Saturday the day before.
The Vlaamse Druivenveldrit is a cyclo-cross race held in Overijse, Belgium. The race is organised by the VZW Sportvrienden Overijse and was first held in 1960. The race is regarded as a Cyclo-cross classic and has a difficult and dangerous parcours that often results in crashes.
Christmas on the River is a week-long annual Christmas festival held in Demopolis, Alabama. It features a week of events that culminate with a nighttime parade of boats lighted with Christmas-themed decorations on the Tombigbee River at Demopolis. Attendance at the Marengo County festival averages about 40,000 people.
The UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup is a season-long competition in cyclo-cross, organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). First held in the 1993–1994 season, there are currently five awards, tailored to the different categories of riders: Men Elite, Women Elite, Men Under 23, Women Under 23, and Men Junior.
Jeremy Powers is an American former professional racing cyclist, who took over 90 UCI victories, four USA Cyclocross national championships, and the 2015 Pan American Championship during his career. He was a presenter for the Global Cycling Network before joining WHOOP.
Tim Gould is an English former professional racing cyclist specialising in cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is a French multi-discipline bicycle racer, who rides for UCI Mountain Bike team Ineos Grenadiers in cross-country cycling. Ferrand-Prévot has also competed in road bicycle racing and cyclo-cross during her career, winning the world title in each discipline. During the 2015 season, aged just 23, she became the first person ever – in the history of cycling – to simultaneously hold the World road title, World cyclo-cross title and World cross-country mountain bike title.
The Grand Prix Eric De Vlaeminck is a cyclo-cross race on and around the circuit Terlaemen in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. The race is named after seven times world champion cyclo-cross Eric De Vlaeminck. Until 2019 it was part of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup but since 2020 it is part of the Superprestige. It is traditionally held on 26 December. In 2003 and 2004, it was a summercross.
Matrix Fitness was a British cycling team which competed in road bicycle racing and track cycling events from 2009 to 2016. For the 2015 season the team registered as a UCI Women's Team, the top level of professional women's cycling, so could compete in elite international events including the UCI Women's Road World Cup. The team was sponsored by Matrix Fitness, Milltag, and Vulpine.
Evie Richards is a British cyclist from Malvern, Worcestershire, England who specialises in mountain bike and cyclo-cross racing. who became the women's cross-country world champion at the 2021 Mountain Bike World Championships. Previously, Richards had been under-23 cyclo-cross world champion at the 2016 and 2018 World Championships. In 2022, Richards added a first Commonwealth Games gold in cross-country mountain bike to her palmarès.
Michael Boroš is a Czech cyclo-cross and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Elkov–Kasper. He represented his nation in the men's elite event at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Heusden-Zolder.
Michael Van Den Ham is a Canadian cyclo-cross cyclist. He competed in the men's elite event at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Heusden-Zolder.
The 2016–2017 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup – also known as the Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup for sponsorship reasons – was a season long cyclo-cross competition, organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The competition took place between 21 September 2016 and 22 January 2017, over a total of nine events. The defending champions were Wout van Aert in the men's competition and Sanne Cant in the women's competition.
The 2020–21 Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup was a season long cyclo-cross competition, organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup took place between 4 October 2020 and 24 January 2021. In 2020, the UCI redesigned the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, expanding the total number of races to 14. The defending champions were Toon Aerts in the men's competition and Annemarie Worst in the women's competition.
The 2021–22 Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup was a season-long cyclo-cross competition, organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup took place between 10 October 2021 and 23 January 2022. This season the number of races was expanded to 16, whereas in regular seasons most recently only about 9 were organized. The intention was to already expand to 14 races during the 2020–21 season, but as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous season was reduced to five races only.
Maghalie Rochette is a Canadian cyclist, who specializes in cyclo-cross.
