Cycling
8 cyclo-cross legends all CX fans should know about
While cyclo-cross might be a new discovery to some, it's a discipline steeped in history. Here are some of its most prolific riders and how they've helped shape the world of 'cross as we know it.
In sport, there are always those athletes who stand head and shoulders above the rest. These are the athletes who push the boundaries of their chosen discipline, who outperform their fellow competitors more often than not and dominate their sport to the point where practically no one else is in the conversation. These athletes are classed as legends by pundits and fans alike.
Cyclo-cross has such athletes in abundance. From the dominating forces of the 1960s to modern-day stars, these are the competitors who've earned the right to be considered legends of CX.
1. Erik de Vlaeminck
Erik de Vlaeminck
© Rob Mieremet (Anefo)/Wikimedia Creative Commons
Palmarès:
- UCI World Champion: 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973
- Belgian National Champion: 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1972
Many consider Erik de Vlaeminck to the best cyclo-cross rider that ever lived. Vlaeminck dominated the discipline for more than a decade from the mid-1960s and scored over 200 career wins. During his time as a pro, he won seven World Championship titles and four Belgian national titles; the latter considered harder to win than Worlds due to the depth of riding talent in his homeland.
Once retired, in 1980, he went on to coach the Belgian national team and achieved success there too. What set Vlaeminck apart from his rivals was that he had great balance on the bike – an essential when riding on muddy cyclo-cross courses. He also had an uncanny sixth sense of knowing the best way to ride any cyclo-cross track he came across.
2. Albert Zweifel
Albert Zweifel
© Anton Geisser
Palmarès:
- UCI World Champion: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1986
- Swiss National Champion: 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985
Swiss rider Albert Zweifel took up Erik de Vlaeminck's mantel of dominating cyclo-cross. By this time, Vlaeminck's powers were on the wane and Zweifel, who was known for being a particularly strong runner, was able to gain quite the advantage over other riders because of that ability. That strength also showed in his riding, with an ability to endure pain like no other – he rarely blew up in races.
The first of his five World Championship titles came in 1976 and his last (in 1986) came at the grand old age of 36 – remarkable seven years on from his fourth win in 1979.
3. Sven Nys
Sven Nys competing in 2007
© Flickr CC/Peter Huys
Palmarès:
- UCI World Champion: 2005 & 2013
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2009
- Belgian National Champion: 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014
- Superprestige Series overall: 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014
Belgium's Sven Nys took cyclo-cross kicking and screaming into the new millennium with a professional approach that had, at that point, not been seen in the sport. Nys constantly looked to improve his bike skills and physical fitness. Prepping in the gym was just as important as putting in the miles on the bike. He was also among the first cyclo-cross athletes to attend training camps and ride in road and MTB events to aid his cyclo-cross career.
On the course, he had a punchy style, preferring to put the hurt in and be explosive at critical moments. Though he only has two World Championship titles to his name – the latter of those in 2013 coming when he was 37-years-old – Nys is a seven-time overall World Cup winner, a feat that looks unlikely to be beaten. His impressive record of 300 race wins is also likely to stand the test of time.
4. Wout van Aert
WK Valkenburg - Wout van Aert
© Kristof Ramon
Palmarès:
- UCI World Champion: 2016, 2017 and 2018
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2016 and 2017
- Belgian National Champion: 2016, 2017 and 2018
- Superprestige Series overall: 2016
Belgian Wout van Aert has packed a lot in to his relatively short cyclo-cross career to date. As a talented junior, he was already making waves riding – and winning – U23 races. Then, in 2014, aged just 20, he beat Sven Nys at Koppenbergcross, one of Belgium's most famous cyclo-cross races. This result catapulted him into the consciousness of the Belgian cyclo-cross scene as Nys's heir apparent. A first elite World Cup win in Koksijde, Belgium followed in the same year and he hasn't looked back since.
In 2016, there was the double of winning the World Cup series overall title and the World Championship in the same season. He's gone on to win the World Champion twice since, with consecutive victories in 2017 and 2018, while the World Cup series overall came his way again in 2017. At just 25-years-old, Van Aert has the opportunity to dominate the sport for years to come should he decide to stick with the discipline rather than move to road cycling. Although a certain Mathieu van der Poel might have other ideas...
5. Mathieu van der Poel
Is there any stopping Mathieu van der Poel?
© Balint Hamvas/Red Bull Content Pool
Palmarès:
- UCI World Champion: 2015, 2019 and 2020
- European Champion: 2017, 2018 and 2019
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2018
- Dutch National Champion: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020
- Superprestige Series overall: 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019
This current of era of cyclo-cross has not only give us one wonderful talent in Wout van Aert, but has spoilt us with another special rider, Mathieu van der Poel. He seems to switch effortlessly between racing cyclo-cross, MTB and road, and is able to win major races in all of them. Like Sven Nys before him, he has explosive power that can blow races to pieces.
The Dutchman became World Champion aged just 20 in Tabor, Czech Republic and has been wearing the rainbow stripes again this season after victory in Denmark in 2019. He's already amassed an incredible 26 World Cup wins in his short career and it appears he can win at will – he's that dominant. Up until December 15 last year, he'd recorded 36 consecutive victories in the cyclo-cross races he entered. And he promptly returned to winning ways straight away after that run ended.
6. Marianne Vos
Marianne Vos competing under her national colours
© Jason Meredith/Wikimedia Creative Commons
Palmarès:
- UCI World Champion: 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014
- European Champion: 2006 and 2010
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2019
- Dutch National Champion: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017
Marianne Vos is without doubt the most complete pro cyclist on the planet. Racing and winning across multiple bike disciplines from cyclo-cross to track cycling, MTB and the road, Vos is one super-talented racer. Unsurprisingly, in cyclo-cross, she's the most decorated woman out there.
Vos has seven World Championships to her name and in the 2018–19 season sealed her first overall UCI Cyclocross World Cup title after racing a full season for the first time in her long career. Vos is known for big solo efforts in 'cross, a relentless style that continues to bring results even though the depth of talent in the women's cyclo-cross field is currently the strongest it's ever been.
7. Sanne Cant
Sanne Cant at the 2018 Iowa City World Cup
© Flickr CC/Phil Roeder
Palmarès:
- UCI World Champion: 2017, 2018 and 2019
- European Champion: 2015 and 2016
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2015, 2016 and 2018
- Belgian National Champion: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020
- Superprestige Series overall: 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019
The Belgians like their cycling superstars and in Sanne Cant they have a bona-fida heroine. Cant is a rarity in women's cycling in that she earns her living solely as a cyclo-cross rider and has done so since she turned professional in 2008. After winning the first of her 11 national championships in 2010, Cant progressed to a first World Cup win in the 2014–15 season in front of her home fans in Koksijde. Her first overall World Cup series win came that very same season.
Two more have followed since, but Cant's dream was to become World Champion, a feat that she achieved in 2017 and subsequently repeated in 2018 and 2019. That's some domination of the sport.
8. Katie Compton
Katie Compton at the 2016 Jingle Cross race
© Flickr CC/Matt Steele
Palmarès:
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2013 and 2014
- American National Champion: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
She may be 41-years-old, but Katie Compton is showing no signs of giving up a cyclo-cross career that's brought her so much joy. The American first raced elite cyclo-cross back in 2001 and has become so dominant in the sport in the United States that she's a 15-time national champion. On the international stage, World Cup wins soon came, the last of the 23 she's accumulated coming in 2018.
A second place in 2019 at Hoogerheide in the Netherlands showed Compton could still compete with the young talent at the World Cups. Only a World Championship win has alluded her so far, and her wait continues with a respectable fourth-place at the 2020 race in Dübendorf, Switzerland.
