The final Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert cyclocross clash of this season will be battled out in front of near-sold-out crowds at the Benidorm World Cup on Sunday, January 21.
Tickets in 2023 were sold-out before the event with only a few hundred available on the day. Huge crowds are expected again in 2024 with TuttoBici reporting that the same amount has already been sold (10,000) with an extended capacity of 15,000 allowing more sales.
Benidorm’s position both geographically and on the calendar means it can attract the biggest stars of the sport from their January training camps, many of which take place in the Calpe and Denía area which is very close to the coastal town.
Cyclocross has grown successfully in Spain outside of its typically restrictive Belgian and Dutch calendar where the discipline is most popular.
The draw of the so-called ‘big three’ certainly has an effect with Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) also on the start list with Van Aert and Van der Poel, despite opting to miss some of his holiday cyclocross programme.
Van Aert and Van der Poel swapped the lead throughout the opening laps of last year’s Benidorm race, the first appearance of the Spanish race on the World Cup calendar, before Van der Poel dive bombed into the lead and outsprinted Van Aert to the line on the final lap. Van Aert pushed his long-term rival to the absolute limit in 2023 and nearly crashed into the barriers trying to take the win in Benidorm.
However this season has seen a greater dominance from the Dutchman with a similarly close battle looking unlikely.
The World Champion made it a perfect 10 for the season at his last race in Zonhoven, taking all 10 wins at the races he has started. Van der Poel’s victories haven’t been close either, the Dutchman often pulling away from the struggling chase behind on the opening laps and not being seen until after the final lap.
Van der Poel has been training in Spain in recent weeks and was spotted on Wednesday on a ride with Tadej Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates teammates Jan Christen and Pavel Sivakov.
Men’s World Cup leader Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels-Sauzen-Bingoal) will be present in the Costa Blanca to try and defend his overall lead from the Baloise Trek Lions trio of Joris Nieuwenhuis, Pim Ronhaar and Lars van der Haar.
Iserbyt sits a narrow 25, 35 and 40 points ahead of the respective chasers, but should be confident of scoring a solid haul after claiming the Belgian national title last…
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