Saturday 18th December, 15:00 CET, 14:00 GMT, 09:00 USA Eastern Time
OK, OK, every Saturday is CX Saturday at the moment, but I'm not complaining! The Fidea Cyclo Cross Classics are 4 races - Neerpelt, Niel, Antwerpen and Tervuren - and while they don't fit into the 3 big series, they're still prestigious. You remember Niel was insanely muddy, right? So what about this race? gs told us
No technical guide on the website, no videos on youtube, and no recollection of previous events means no info for you lot. But ehrm, Lars Boom will be there. That's something right?
But I can find you a little bit more than that! Check it out below - and remember, nothing makes watching a race better than chatting all the way through it with us!
EDIT! No need for streaming sites - it's all free, legal, legit & lovely at http://superprestige.vt4.be/!
The course is shown in a googlemap picture - head over to the official website and hit Technische Gids in the sidebar, open up the pdf and scroll down. That looks like it'll be sandy, right? Antwerp is in Flanders, and that river is the Scheldt, which turns into an estuary, which turns into the North Sea. So it'll either be sandy, or that stretch along the river will be sticky river mud - either of which works for me!
EDIT! Or neither! Snow & ice & ice & snow, which is also superb!
The startlist includes Nys, Albert, Pauwels, Aernouts, all of the big guys you'd expect, poor old Stybar excepted - and with the 2nd big outing of a certain Mr Lars Boom. There's a bit of a theme of welcoming the long-lost Dutch superstars - because heading up the listings for the women's race is Marianne Vos. Now Vos has just come back from Australia, where she was doing some pretty intensive track training, so she'll not be in full-on Cross mode yet, but still.... MARIANNE VOS!! She'll be riding against everyone you'd expect to see minus Katie Compton, who rides a very limited schedule and plus Olympic MTB Champion Sabine Spitz...
So where and when can you see it? CyclingFans says the coverage may start as early as 14:30 CET - and he has links as always - as does BVLS (scroll down) and ProCycling. If you're bored waiting, read the race's News Page, because there are lots of rider quotes & fun snippets - add your favourites to the comments!