GUIDE – Watch the World Cup clay court on Sunday, with Van der Poel, title holder Mohoric and European champion Stuyven

The 3rd Clay World Cup is scheduled for this weekend between Halle and Leuven. A colorful mix of road racers and off-road riders compete for the rainbow jersey, with Mathieu van der Poel as the top favorite. The women are looking forward to Lotte Kopecky’s very first clay court match. You can read all that and more in the World Cup guide below.

The second edition of the Clay World Cup was a reissue of the first. Once again the participants grinded through the gravel of Veneto in the north of Italy.

They were presented with an improved version: with more gravel strips and more elevation meters.

A perfect fit for Matej Mohoric. In his very first (!) gravel race, the Slovenian not only climbed very strongly, he especially showed off his trademark: descending.

Florian Vermeersch was able to follow Mohoric the longest and took a nice silver medal, well ahead of the British Connor Swift.

Wout van Aert had to play catch-up after bad luck and a crash. He eventually finished 8th.

In the women’s race, Katarzyna Niewiadoma rode solo to gold. The Polish woman threw everyone overboard on one of the climbs along the vineyards.

Demi Vollering also had to acknowledge her superiority in Niewiadoma. The Tour winner was also beaten at the finish by fellow escapee Silvia Persico.

Marthe Truyen finished 12th and first Belgian, almost 8 minutes from Niewiadoma.

The Clay World Cup brings together participants from different disciplines. For the men, multi-champion Mathieu van der Poel starts as the top favorite.

He is riding the World Cup for the second time. Two years ago, when his Alpecin teammate Gianni Vermeersch won, Van der Poel finished third.

The biggest challengers are defending champion Matej Mohoric and home rider and European champion Jasper Stuyven.

And if it comes to a sprint, Tim Merlier has a good chance of winning the rainbow jersey.

They are all part of an elite peloton with almost 300 (!) riders.

Katarzyna Niewiadoma will not defend her title among the women. After her Tour victory, the Polish woman had to deal with the coronavirus.

Lotte Kopecky will ride her very first gravel race on Saturday. Immediately for gold?

Her teammate Lorena Wiebes leads a strong Dutch selection, with experienced cyclo-cross riders such as Marianne Vos, Lucinda Brand, Puck Pieterse, Shirin van Anrooij and Fem van Empel. Wiebes was the winner of the European Championships in Oud-Heverlee last year.

More foreign clay-court violence at the start: the Australian specialist Tiffany Cromwell (first at the European Championships last year) and the American champion Lauren Stephens.

A total of 138 elite riders have registered for the World Cup on clay.

The start of the 3rd Clay World Cup is in Halle, the finish in Leuven.

The riders first meander past the beech cathedrals in the Hallerbos and the Sonian Forest.

Then it goes via the Tervuren park (and the Museum of Africa) along the rolling fields of Duisburg and Neerijse towards the Egenhovenbos, south of Leuven.

There is a local loop of 47 kilometers in and around Leuven, with a passage through the center and along the bicycle spiral at the station. Via the abbey it goes towards Heverleebos, Mollendaalbos and Meerdaalwoud.

The men ride 2 local laps, the women 1. This brings the total ride to 182 kilometers for the men and 136 kilometers for the women.

More than 70 percent of the trail is unpaved.

The women kick off the race on Saturday at 12 noon, the arrival is expected just after 4 pm.

The men will compete for the world title on Sunday. They will also be released at 12 p.m. We should know Matej Mohoric’s successor around 4:30 p.m.

You can watch the Clay World Cup live on Saturday and Sunday from 2:15 PM on VRT1, in the Sporza app and on our website.