Cycling
These are the cyclo-cross legends that everyone should know about
We profile 8 legendary riders you should definitely learn about who've helped to shape the sport of cyclo-cross as we know it today.
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 so much that 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 and below we list the eight riders, five men and three women, who've earned the right to be considered legends for the careers they've had and, in many cases, continue to have.
1. Erik de Vlaeminck (1966–1980)
Erik de Vlaeminck
© Rob Mieremet (Anefo)/Wikimedia Creative Commons
Achievements:
- 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 cyclo-cross for more than a decade from the mid 1960s and he has over 200 career wins. During his time as a pro, he won seven World Championship titles and four Belgian national titles. The Belgian titles at those times were often harder to win than Worlds due to the depth of riding talent in Belgium.
Once retired, in 1980, he went on to coach the Belgian national team and gained much success there. What set Vlaeminck apart from his rivals was that he had great balance on the bike, something that you very much need 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 (1973–1989)
Albert Zweifel
© Anton Geisser
Achievements:
- 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 was the next cyclo-cross racer to dominate the sport after Erik de Vlaeminck. 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 crossers 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 Worlds win in 1986 came a remarkable seven years on from his fourth win in 1979. Zweifel was 36-years-old at the time of the '86 win.
3. Sven Nys (1995–2016)
Sven Nys competing in 2007
© Flickr CC/Peter Huys
Achievements:
- UCI World Champion: 2005 & 2013
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 & 2009
- Belgian National Champion: 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 & 2014
- Superprestige Series overall: 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 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 work was just as important to putting in the miles on the bike. He was also among the first cyclo-cross athletes to attend training camps and also 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 title 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 ever to be beaten. His record of 300 race wins is also likely to stand the test of time.
4. Wout van Aert (2010 onwards)
Wout van Aert knows how to pull away during cyclocross races
© Kristof Ramon
Achievements:
- UCI World Champion: 2016, 2017 & 2018
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2016 & 2017
- Belgian National Champion: 2016, 2017 & 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 U23 races and winning them. Then, in 2014, aged just 20, he beat Sven Nys at Koppenbergcross, one of Belgium's most famous cyclo-cross races. This 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 came in the same year.
The upward trajectory for van Aert continued apace in the years that followed. In 2016, there was the double of winning the World Cup series overall title and the World Championship in the same year. He's been World Champion twice again, 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.
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5. Mathieu Van der Poel (2011 onwards)
Mathieu van der Poel
© Balint Hamvas/Red Bull Content Pool
Achievements
- UCI World Champion: 2015 & 2019
- European Champion: 2017, 2018 & 2019
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2018
- Dutch National Champion: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020
- Superprestige Series overall: 2015, 2017, 2018 & 2019
This current of era of cyclo-cross has not only give us one wonderful talent in Wout van Aert, but is also spoiling us with another special rider, Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman seems to switch effortlessly between racing cyclo-cross, MTB and on the 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.
van der Poel became a World Champion aged just 20 in Tabor, Czech Republic and won it again in 2019. He's 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, Van der Poel had recorded 36 consecutive victories in the cyclo-cross races he entered. He promptly returned to winning ways straight away after that run ended.
6. Marianne Vos (2003 onwards)
Marianne Vos competing under her national colours
© Jason Meredith/Wikimedia Creative Commons
Achievements
- UCI World Champion: 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014
- European Champion: 2006 & 2010
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2019
- Dutch National Champion: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 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. 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 she 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 cyclo-cross, a relentless style that continues to bring results even with the depth of women's cyclo-cross currently being the strongest it's ever been.
7. Sanne Cant (2006 onwards)
Sanne Cant at the 2018 Iowa City World Cup
© Flickr CC/Phil Roeder
Achievements:
- UCI World Champion: 2017, 2018 & 2019
- European Champion: 2015 & 2016
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2015, 2016 & 2018
- Belgian National Champion: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020
- Superprestige Series overall: 2016, 2017, 2018 & 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. The overall World Cup series win came that very same season.
Two more World Cup series wins followed, 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 (2000 onwards)
Katie Compton at the 2016 Jingle Cross race
© Flickr CC/Matt Steele
Achievements
- UCI World Cup Series overall: 2013 & 2014
- American National Champion: Every year from 2004 to 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 remarkably coming in 2018 when she was 39.
A second place in 2019 at Hoogerheide in the Netherlands shows Compton can still compete with the young talent at the World Cups. Only a World Championship win has alluded Compton. She's been selected for the US team for this year's race in Dübendorf, Switzerland, so you never know, this could be her year.