Fans got a preview of the riders on the worlds course

The buildup to worlds has not been just pure hype; fans got a rare sneak preview of the main event when the third round of the UCI World Cup visited the sand dunes of Koksijde at the end of November.

For the first time in many years, racers got to test their legs on the worlds course in a real race just a few short months before the main event. And sparks flew then as well, largely over accusations that winner Sven Nys put rival Kevin Pauwels into the barriers during the final sprint of the race. Pauwels and his team, Sunweb-Revor, unsuccessfully petitioned the officials to disqualify Nys and a war of words followed in subsequent days.

So look for sparks to fly again when the world of cyclocross makes its return to the Belgian coast. On Friday VeloNews.com will take a look at the riders’ last-minute preparations for the big event and assess how both Belgium’s rapidly changing weather and Koksijde’s shifting sands might affect the weekend’s outcome.

Belgian fans’ devotion to cyclocross has been rewarded — and stoked — by a decade and a half of almost complete domination of international competition by Belgian riders, at least on the men’s side. Not since 1997 has at least one Belgian man failed to make the podium in a world championship race and Belgian men have claimed a whopping 30 of the 42 possible podium places since Mario De Clercq restored Belgian supremacy with a dramatic solo win on another seaside race in Middelfart, Denmark, in 1998. Since then, Belgian men have also claimed 10 out of 14 rainbow jerseys.

But despite the domination, since 2008 only one Belgian man, Albert, has won at Worlds, and the past two years have belonged to Stybar. So count on the seven-man Belgian contingent to do everything possible to deliver a countryman to the top step of the podium on home soil.

With veteran and former two-time champion, Wellens, sidelined for the rest of the season following a major health scare just ahead of the national championship race earlier this month, the Belgians will field a relatively young team on Sunday; only national champion Nys is over 30. And on a sandy and very technical course in Koksijde, his experience may make all the difference.

Part II of the cyclocross world championships preview: Which men to watch

Take the poll: Which man will win cyclocross worlds?

FILED UNDER: Cyclocross / News TAGS: Cyclocross World Championships