The UCI World Cyclo-cross Championships kick off on Friday, and across the categories, riders will be battling for the chance to win a rainbow jersey. Mathieu van der Poel is the hot favourite as he aims to take a record-breaking eighth world title. The elite women’s race is a little more open, but Van der Poel’s compatriots Puck Pieterse and Lucinda Brand should also be at the front of the action.
Cyclo-cross is a unique discipline, and one where the right equipment choice is crucial; this, of course, includes tyres which are limited in size to 33mm by the UCI.
Glued-on tubular tyres are still almost exclusively used in professional CX racing. However, a few teams are using tubeless setups to good effect, most notably Zoe Bäckstedt, who won a U23 cyclo-cross world title in 2025 using tubeless tyres.
Cyclo-cross racing can be technical and muddy; races are hardly ever cancelled due to the weather, and courses like Zonhoven feature deep, challenging sand sections. Cyclo-cross machines are very similar to road bikes, and the relatively low-volume and narrow 33mm tyres used make things more challenging and technical. It also means that the lower the tyre pressure racers run, the more grip and traction they can take advantage of.
There’s a balance to be struck, but tubular tyres can be run at low pressures with zero risk of the tyre coming off the rim or burping air if the sidewall deforms when attacking a corner. It’s also a little easier to ride back to the race pits on a punctured tubular in the event of a flat.
At face value, there’s a risk of running tubeless cyclo-cross tyres with too little pressure, the nature of the tyre beads interface with a wheels rim and the lack of an inner tube to aid the fit, mean that there’s a bigger risk of a…
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