The team: Ridley Racing Team wants to combine
Ridley Racing Team will experience its baptism this Saturday. Under Belgian license, this new team was notably built around the champions of the Netherlands Joris Nieuwenhuis and of Spain Felipe Orts or Daan Soete, second in the last Belgian gravel championships. The young Lore Sas, 18 years old, is the only representative among the ladies. The management of this formation, which therefore only has four riders, is managed by Bob De Cnodder. “I contributed to its establishment and development. But there is still work to finalize everything“, he admitted. Richard Groenendaal is, for his part, the sporting director of this team which wishes to innovate by combining cyclo-cross, mountain biking and gravel.
The regulation: reduce pollution as on the road
The new season also brings a change in the regulations. As has been the case since April 2021 on the road, cyclo-cross riders no longer have the right to throw their waste or equipment wherever they wish. This measure aims to reduce pollution and raise awareness among participants and supporters of the importance of creating a cleaner and more sustainable sporting environment. Faced with this situation, several load-shedding zones are set up during each race where runners can easily get rid of their bottles, for example, in a secure and organized manner. The waste is then quickly collected after the runners have passed, either by the organization or by the public, wishing to keep a souvenir of the race.
The sanctions for non-compliance with this rule are known. A first offense carries a fine of up to 250 Swiss francs (around 265 euros) and repeated violations can even lead to exclusion from the race.
Calendars: more density
The World Cup is changing slightly. It will only start this season on November 24 compared to mid-October last year and will no longer have 14 but 12 rounds. That of Waterloo in the United States disappears following complaints about the cost of the trip for teams limited in their expenses such as those of Troyes, Flamanville and Val di Sole while Oristano in Sardinia and Besançon appear on the other hand. But the big novelty takes the form of double weekends with two rounds on Saturday and Sunday like Hulst and Zonhoven in December and Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide in January. The UCI also confirmed that half of the World Cup events will benefit from protected status. No international race may be contested the day before or the same day as a “protected round”. This new feature is put in place after the criticisms expressed in recent seasons about the difficulties of doing a ranking race (Superprestige, X2O Badkamers trophy, etc.) on Saturday to fly to Italy or Ireland the next day.
The other competitions therefore also see their calendar slightly modified. The Mol and Gullegem cyclo-cross events make their Superprestige debut this season. After a year of absence, the Rapencross de Lokeren returns to the X2O Badkamers Trophy rankings. And the number of rounds of the Exact Cross is reduced from seven to six, including the traditional first this Saturday in Beringen.
