Superprestige Gullegem 2025 – Premiere of victory and cyclo-cross for Wout van Aert?

Saturday, it’s time for a new round of the Telenet Superprestige, this time in Gullegem. It’s special because Wout van Aert is there. The Belgian rider completes his second cyclocross of the season. Mathieu van der Poel is not there, so Van Aert could have a good chance of taking a first cyclocross victory. Is he successful? And what can we expect from women’s cross country? CyclingFlits look to the future.

History

Latest edition

Course

Gullegem is essentially a typical West-Flanders meadow crossing, interrupted halfway by an artificial sandpit. The course is located in a “park zone” and in such areas you can’t just plant an extra hill here and there. Permits are required for this. The organization hopes to make a few adjustments here and there in the future, but at the moment it’s not the most original course.

In total, this year’s circuit is approximately 2,600 meters long. The route is almost the same as in previous years. Three years ago, the bars were placed in the meadow phase, after the sandbox, but now they are placed even later in the round. The beams are located after the hill area and just before the bridge with stairs. Shortly after, the second passage to the material station follows. This will not be decisive, it is mainly the weather during and especially before the cyclo-cross.

In the past, the weather has caused many concerns for the organization in West Flanders. During the last edition in Gullegem, the course was still partly flooded a few days before the cross due to heavy rain. Eventually, they even had to rethink the course. This is not a problem this year.

Program and information

Telenet Superprestige – Hexia Cyclocross Gullegem

Emplacement
Europalaan, Gullegem

Public information
A ticket costs 15 euros at the ticket office. Tickets are also available online in pre-sale on the organization’s website at a price of 12 euros. Children up to 12 years old can enter for free.

Practical information
Organization of the website

Men’s participants (Cyclingflash)
Female participants (Cyclingflash)

Men’s favorites

All eyes will be on one man on Saturday, Wout van Aert. The Visma Lease a Bike rider will travel to Gullegem to do his second cyclocross this season. During his first cross country of the season, in Loenhout, he immediately performed well. Van Aert delivered a superb cross and fought for second until the bottom of the final lap. It was within his reach, but an inattentive spectator knocked Van Aert to the ground. Far from the stage.

In Gullegem, Van Aert can dream of more than a second or third place. Mathieu van der Poel is not present in the municipality of West Flanders, which naturally increases the chances of victory. Gullegem is certainly a cross that should please Van Aert. The Belgian chose this cyclo-cross to add to his program, because he can express his strengths there. Winning will undoubtedly be Van Aert’s ambition, secretly or not.

However, it certainly won’t be easy. Van der Poel may not be there, but other riders will also put pressure on Van Aert. One of these guys is That is to say Iserbyt. The Belgian champion has never managed to triumph in Gullegem, which the West Flemish will be happy to change. Iserbyt started the year very well, he triumphed at Baal after a nice cross.

There is also Joran Wyseure. The former U23 world champion appreciates courses where he can express his power. It’s no different in Gullegem and so we can certainly expect Wyseure to be at the forefront. It’s unclear what exactly we can expect from Lars van der Haar. The Dutchman suffers from a knee injury. It is even currently uncertain whether Van der Haar will start at Gullegem. If this is the case, he will in principle not be in contention for victory. Wyseure is a dangerous customer for crossings like Gullegem – photo: Cor Vos

Michael Vanthourenhout is on the same street. The former European champion suffered from an illness and had to pass the previous crossings. Niels Vandeputtewe can count ourselves among the favorites for the cross country in Gullegem. Both boys are very consistent and almost always compete for prizes. Vandeputte also defends its leading position in the Telenet Superprestige ranking.

Additionally, we need to pay attention to the fit man Laurens Sweeck (winner in Diegem and Koksijde), Toon Aerts, Emiel Verstrynge and the Spanish champion Felipe Orts.

Favoris selon WielerFlits
*** Wout van Aert
** Eli Iserbyt, Toon Aerts
* Joran Wyseure, Niels Vandeputte, Laurens Sweeck

Men’s participants (Cyclingflash)

Favorite women

Marcus Lucinda she will love to see the course in Gullegem. The Dutch love these kinds of circuits. She can express her strength there and then she is always there. Think, for example, of the Dublin Cross, which was also such a cross. She has already managed to win, ahead of world champion Fem van Empel among others. It is therefore certainly not illogical to consider Brand as the big favorite for cyclo-cross in Gullegem.

The biggest competition will come from… Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado come. The Fenix-Deceuninck driver is also engaged in an exciting battle with Brand for the Superprestige rankings. Alvarado leads with 86 points, but Brand is close with 85 points. Gullegem is the penultimate cross in this points classification, so every point really counts. So it wouldn’t surprise us if the two never lost sight of each other and if we got a very exciting crossover, like in Diegem.

Who knows, both could sprint for victory – photo: Cor Vos

But they certainly also have to watch out for other riders. And we are mainly talking about a young talent from Great Britain, Zoé Backstedt. She won last year in Gullegem. It was a bit of a surprise at the time, but not entirely. Bäckstedt is at its best on difficult courses and, as you already know, Gullegem is one of them. On a good day, she should be able to compete with Brand and Alvarado until the final.

After the three names mentioned earlier, there is a gap with the rest of the peloton. One of the things we have to look forward to is Leonie Bentveld, who is working behind the scenes on a great season. Bentveld is still very young, but he is progressing steadily. The Pauwels Sauzen-Cibel Clementines driver could well surprise, even if it is still far too early for a victory in this field.

Bäckstedt finished fourth last weekend in Besançon – photo: Cor Vos

Also Sanne Cant is present in Gullegem. The Belgian champion can aim for a good ranking in the top 10, and who knows, even in the top 5. Finally, we mention Sara CasasolaAniek van Alphen et Marion Norbert Riberolle. Casasola returns after a moment of absence. For her, as well as for Van Alphen and Norbert Riberolle, a top 5 in Gullegem would be a great achievement.

Favoris selon WielerFlits
***Mark Lucinda
** Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Zoe Bäckstedt
* Sanne Cant, Marion Norbert Riberolle, Sara Casasola

Female participants (Cyclingflash)

Weather and television

The weather is always important for cross country in Gullegem. If it rains a lot in the days before or during the cross, it can turn into a battlefield. This year the weather conditions seem better, although it may still rain that day. It remains to be seen how the site will evolve. Additionally, there will be moderate wind and it will be quite cold, with temperatures just above freezing.

The Telenet Superprestige Gullegem can be seen in the Netherlands via Eurosport1, HBO Max In Discovery+. You can switch to any of these channels from 1:35 p.m. In Belgium, cyclocross is only visible via the pay channels of Telenetop Play sports 1In Followingop Pickx+ Sports 1. Sporzaop GARDEN 1will provide a detailed summary at 5:40 p.m. For more information, you can always consult our “Cycling on TV” TV guide.