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.
Sven Nys is a former professional cyclist competing in cyclo-cross and mountain bike. With two world championships, seven world cups, and over 140 competitive victories, he is considered one of the best cyclo-cross racers of his generation, and remains a prominent figure in cyclo-cross. Apart from cyclo-cross, Nys is also fivefold national mountainbike champion, and has competed in that discipline in two Olympic games.
Visma–Lease a Bike is a Dutch professional bicycle racing team, successor of the former Rabobank. The team consists of four sections: ProTeam, Women's Team, Development Team, and cyclo-cross.
Koppenberg is a 77 m (253 ft) high hill in Oudenaarde, the Flemish Ardennes, Belgium. "Koppen" is an abbreviation for cobblestones which in Dutch slang language are called kinderkoppen, or "children's heads". This climb is part of the route of the Tour of Flanders professional cycling race and feared by many because of its steepness and because of its cobblestones. This makes the Koppenberg difficult even for top professionals. Quite often, riders slow to the point of losing their balance, especially those at the back of the peloton who have to dismount and scramble to the top on foot.
Richard Marinus Anthonius Groenendaal is a Dutch former professional cyclo-cross cyclist. Groenendaal won the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2000 and the overall titles in the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup 1997–1998, 2000–2001 and 2003–2004 and in the Cyclo-cross Superprestige in 1997–1998 and 2000–2001.
John Gadret is a French former professional racing cyclist in cyclo-cross and road racing, currently racing for the USO Bruay-la-Buissière amateur team. He became a stagiaire for Cofidis in 2003 before turning professional with the Vlaanderen–T Interim team in 2004.
Niels Albert is a former professional cyclo-cross racing cyclist who currently resides in Tremelo. He became World Champion twice, in 2009 and 2012.
The Grand Prix Sven Nys or GP Sven Nys is a cyclo-cross race held in Baal, Belgium. The race is named after cyclo-cross legend Sven Nys who is a citizen of Baal. Nys won his "own" race 12 out of 16 times he competed. He was sick at home for the 14th edition in 2013. The race is part of the X²O Badkamers Trophy.
Lars Anthonius Johannes Boom is a professional cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing cyclist from the Netherlands. He has also competed professionally in road racing, having raced between 2004 and 2019.
The Tour of Flanders, formerly the Tour of Flanders for Women, is an annual road bicycle racing event in Flanders, Belgium, held in early April. It is held on the same day as the men's race, on much of the same roads but at a shorter distance. Dutch riders Mirjam Melchers, Annemiek van Vleuten, Belgian Lotte Kopecky and German Judith Arndt hold the record with two wins each. Elisa Longo Borghini won the most recent edition in 2024.
The Druivencross, also known as 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.
Baloise–Trek Lions is a Belgian professional cycling team based in Belgium which focuses predominantly on the cyclo-cross season. The team is named after its main sponsors, Bâloise and Trek. The team had various different names in the past amongst which Spaar-Select and Telenet-Fidea.
Danny De Bie is a former Belgian professional cyclist and directeur sportif, who won the men's race at the 1989 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. His brothers Eddy De Bie and Rudy De Bie also competed professionally.
The 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's elite race was held on Sunday 28 January 2007 as a part of the 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium.
The BPost Bank Trophy 2013–2014 is a season long cyclo-cross competition which began on 13 October with the GP Mario De Clercq and will end on 23 February in Oostmalle.
The BPost Bank Trophy 2014–2015 is a season long cyclo-cross competition which began on 12 October with the GP Mario De Clercq and will end on 7 February in Lille. In this season Oostmalle, that became an independent race this season, is replaced by Hamme, a former race in the Superprestige.
Femke Van den Driessche is a Belgian former cyclo-cross cyclist, mountainbiker and road racing cyclist. As a junior, she became national cyclo-cross champion in 2011 and mountain bike champion in 2013. In 2015, Van den Driessche won the European Cyclo-cross Championships in the women's under-23 category, and in 2016 she became Belgian champion in the same category, but she was later stripped of both titles.
The fifth edition of the Gent–Wevelgem women's race was held on 27 March 2016. It was a one-day road women's cycling race in Belgium. It was included in the inaugural Women's World Tour, coming as the fourth round of the competition. Dutch rider Chantal Blaak won the race after a solo attack.
Toon Aerts is a Belgian professional cyclo-cross and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Cyclo-cross team Team Deschacht–Group Hens–Containers Maes. Aerts is a two-time winner of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup standings, and also won the men's elite race at the 2016 European Championships and the 2019 Belgian National Championships. His brother Thijs is also a professional cyclist.
Thibau Nys is a Belgian cyclo-cross and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Lidl–Trek on the road and for UCI Cyclo-cross team Baloise–Trek Lions in cyclo-cross. Nys is the son of Sven Nys, one of the most successful cyclo-cross riders of all time.
Belgium 
Lars van der Haar (NED)
Laurence Leboucher (FRA)
Helen Wyman (GBR) (4 wins)
