The first recognised UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships took place in Paris (France) in 1950 and was won by Jean Robic, of France. Between 1950 and 1966 the championship was open to both amateurs and professionals. From 1967 to 1993 two separate championships were organised – one for amateurs and one for professionals. From 1994 the championship became a single event again open to all elite riders. A junior world championship was introduced in 1976. All are organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), and the winner has the right to wear the rainbow jersey for a full year, like the winners of the world championships in other cycling disciplines.
Katie Compton is an American bicycle racer. She specializes 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 cyclo-cross, road bicycle racer, mountain bike racer and track racer, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team CCC Liv. Vos has drawn comparison to Eddy Merckx as being "the finest cyclist of [her] generation".
Helen Wyman is a British cyclist for the Experza-Footlogix team. She participates in both road cycling and cyclo-cross and since she began competing at the age of 14, Wyman has represented her country at many international events including World Cups and World Championships. Except for 2013, she was the British national champion in cyclo-cross from 2006-2015.
CCC Liv is a women's professional cycling team, based in the Netherlands. The title sponsors are CCC, a Polish-based shoe retailer and Liv, a sub-brand of Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer Giant Bicycles. The team's directeur sportif is Jeroen Blijlevens. Riders for CCC Liv compete in the UCI Women's World Tour and other Elite Women's Cycling events throughout the world.
Adri van der Poel is a retired Dutch cyclist. Van der Poel was a professional from 1981 to 2000. His biggest wins included six classics, two stages of the Tour de France and the World Cyclo-Cross Championships in 1996. He also obtained the second place and silver medal in the World Road Championships in 1983 behind Greg LeMond and five second places in the World Cylo-Cross championships. The Grand Prix Adri van der Poel is named after him.
Zdeněk Štybar is a Czech professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Deceuninck–Quick-Step. While best known as a cyclo-cross racer, in 2011 Štybar began his professional road career while continuing to race cyclo-cross.
Kevin Pauwels is a retired Belgian professional racing cyclist, for the Sunweb-Napoleon Games team. Pauwels retired on 24 February 2019 by winning the Sluitingsprijs Oostmalle.
Nikki Brammeier is an English racing cyclist from Draycott, Derbyshire. She began cycling at five and has won championships in various disciplines. Brammeier has competed in international events including the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics and the Commonwealth Games. She won her first UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in 2015 at Cyclo-cross Namur.
Lucinda Brand is a Dutch racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team Team Sunweb. After four years with Rabo–Liv, in August 2016 Team Sunweb announced that Brand had signed a two-year deal with the team, with a role as a team leader, road captain and as part of the team's sprint train.
Thalita de Jong is a Dutch racing cyclist. She competed in the 2013 UCI women's team time trial in Florence. She won gold at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Zolder, Belgium. After five years with Rabo–Liv, in August 2016 Lares–Waowdeals announced that de Jong would join them for the 2017 season, leading the team on the road and in cyclo-cross. She is the older sister of fellow professional cyclist, Demi de Jong. De Jong's suffered a 2017 cyclocross season ending injury, falling at the Hoogerheide World Cup. Medical issues plagued her 2017 road season, by the end of the year, de Jong signed with the former Sport Vlaanderen–Guill D'or as it became an international team in 2018.
Gianni Vermeersch is a Belgian professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Professional Continental team Corendon–Circus in road races, and UCI Continental team Steylaerts–777 in cyclo-cross events. He lives in Klerken, near Diksmuide. In his first UCI World Cup race in Valkenburg, he finished in 10th place.
Wout van Aert is a Belgian professional road and cyclo-cross racer who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Jumbo–Visma. He won the men's elite race at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018. He joined Team Jumbo–Visma, in March 2019, on a three-year deal, after terminating his contract with Vérandas Willems–Crelan in 2018.
Lucía González Blanco is a Spanish professional cyclo-cross and road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team Bizkaia–Durango. In cyclo-cross she represented her nation in the women's elite event at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Heusden-Zolder.
Cylance Pro Cycling is a professional women's cycling team based in the United States of America that started competing in elite women's road bicycle racing events, such as the UCI Women's World Tour, in 2016. The team's major sponsor, Cylance, is a high-tech computer security firm, and the team is owned by Inspire Sports whose founder, Omer Kem, previously managed BMW p/b Happy Tooth Dental and Bissell Pro Cycling.
Evie Richards is a British cyclist who specialises in mountain bike and cyclo-cross racing. She became under-23 cyclo-cross world champion at the 2016 and 2018 World Championships.
Nikola Nosková is a Czech road cyclist and cyclo-cross racer, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team Bigla Pro Cycling.
Simon Lien Andreassen is a Danish male cyclist competing in cyclo-cross and mountainbike. He competed in the men's under-23 event at the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Heusden-Zolder.
Thomas "Tom" Pidcock is a British cyclist who currently competes in the cyclo-cross, road bicycle racing and track cycling disciplines of the sport. He is best known for winning the junior titles in the UEC European Cyclo-cross Championships at Pontchâteau, France in 2016, the UCI World Cyclo-cross Championships, at Bieles, Luxembourg in 2017 and the UCI World Time Trial Championships at Bergen, Norway in 2017.
