World Championship Watch Guide 2023
The biggest event in the sport of cyclocross - the UCI World Championships - are upon us. This weekend the finest athletes in the world of cyclocross (with two notable exceptions) will be racing for the rainbow stripes in the Dutch town of Hoogerheide.
What does the course look like?
The course has been a part of the world cup rotation for over a decade now, and has previously played host to the world championships in 2009 and 2014 - the latter of which featured an all-time classic battle in the Elite Men’s race between Sven Nys and Zdenek Stybar.
The previous version features numerous off-camber corners, mud, sand, and one of the longest staircases in cyclocross.
Based on the recon lap of Dutch rider Tibor del Grosso, this year’s course is slightly different - especially in the placement of the barriers, which now come later in the lap and on an uphill section, which will really test the riders’ bunnyhopping skills.
When are the races on?
Want to know when the races are on, but can’t be bothered figuring how how to convert the time zones? No need to worry - we’ve done that for you!
An important note: Day 1’s races are happening on Saturday in Europe (meaning a Sunday morning finish for some of those Down Under), and Day 2’s races are on Sunday (Monday morning for some of those Down Under).
How to watch
Australia
Those watching in Australia will need to watch on Fox Sports - either via via the Kayo streaming service or pay TV on Fox Sports More+ (though the pay TV guide currently only lists the Elite races).
Kayo are offering a 14-day free trial for new customers, which you can sign up for here. You’ll need to enter credit card details in order to set up your subscription and start watching, so make sure you go back in and cancel the service next week if you don’t plan on using it for anything else.
Due to international broadcast arrangements, the official UCI stream on YouTube and streaming via GCN+ will be geo-blocked for those in Australia. GCN+ certainly will be geo-blocked (as they have been all year), but throughout this season several UCI livestreams of CX World Cups have been available to watch from Australia for the first day or two. It’s hard to know if this will happen again (especially for the sport’s biggest weekend), but we’d recommend erring on the side of caution and signing up for a Kayo account to guarantee you can watch the action.
New Zealand
Throughout this cyclocross season, UCI CX World Cups have been streamed on Sky Sport 9, and from all the evidence we can see this will be the same for the CX World Championships. This means Kiwis will need to watch Sky Sport 9 to catch the action from the World Championships.
They’re offering a 7-day free trial for new customers based in New Zealand, which you can sign up for here. You’ll need to enter credit card details in order to set up your subscription and start watching, so make sure you go back in and cancel the service next week if you want to be charged for it.
Due to international broadcast arrangements, the official UCI stream on YouTube and streaming via GCN+ will be geo-blocked for those in New Zealand. GCN+ certainly will be geo-blocked (as they have been all year), but throughout this season several UCI livestreams of CX World Cups have been available to watch for the first day or two. As with the Aussies, we’d recommend signing up for the short term to ensure you can catch all the racing.
Who are the riders to watch?
Watch this space - we’ll cover all that and more in a preview article coming to CX Down Under later this week!