The next world cup on the cyclocross calendar and we are travelling to Italy to witness yet another opportunity for the riders to prove they are the best and have what it takes to gain another win before Christmas, of course there are still a few after the holiday but some riders may want to get home to their family.
The home nation is providing 14 riders from the 33 taking part showing their determination to win the home race against the bigger names. This is unlikely considering Belgium is sending 10 with Felipe Orts and Lars Van Der Haar present for their respective countries suggesting that Italy may not be as prepared to win as they thought. On the other hand they may just be showing that they still care about the sport with the country only having 55 riders in the top 18 pro road cycling teams in the 2024 contract with all of them keeping their contracts for the 2025 season.
On the other side of the weekend there are another 13 riders representing their country out of the 35 on the start list with Belgium and the Netherlands having 7 and 5 riders respectively. Albania have one representative showing just how global the sport is and how willing the athletes are to travel around the world for the sport.
However the start list is smaller than compared with other cross events this season which have had over 50 athletes starting which suggests that many want to get home to their families or are focused on other events closer to home. Others may be focusing on the road season or are recovering from injury gained earlier in the season.
Other news includes Remco Evenepoel being injured again after being hit by the door of a postal van and Wout Van Aert releasing which cyclocross events he will be participating in. Thomas Pidcock leaving Ineos Grenadiers for a non world tour team.
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