Cameron Mason (777tv CX Team) heads into the November 14–15 cyclocross double-header with a muddy Niel victory and the Superprestige lead.
Saturday’s Aardbeiencross in Merksplas offers another winning opportunity, before Thibau Nys (Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsbureau Lions) returns for Sunday’s Bollekescross with the advantage of fresher legs.
Cyclo-cross 2026–27
Bollekescross: race 2 of 8 in the X2O Trofee
The riders meet in Merksplas for the fourth round of eight in the Superprestige competition. Whereas the Bollekescross is the second round of eight in the X2O Badkamers Trofee. The race returns to Hamme-Zogge after 13 years. Sunday’s meadow circuit is separate from the Hamme venue hosting January’s World Cup.
Courses and winner picks
Race schedule
Saturday 14 November 2026
- 13:40CETElite women: 12:40 UK
- 15:10CETElite men: 14:10 UK
Bollekescross
- Elite women: 12:45 UK: 13:45
- Elite men: 14:00 UK: 15:00
Merksplas combines pasture, sandy roads, woodland paths and cobbles, with a bridge, barriers, sandpit and off-camber section. The barriers and sandpit sit close together late in the lap, making clean transitions particularly valuable. Saturday is forecast to be dry, following rain and drizzle recorded in the region earlier in the week, so there’s the possibility of damp ground.
Bollekescross organiser Jurgen Mettepenningen said the revived event would use exactly its former course through Zogge’s meadows. Riders tackling both days must recover from Merksplas’s repeated technical efforts before another race the following day.
Merksplas men: too close to call between Mason and Joran Wyseure (Crelan-Corendon). Conditions on the day could tip the balance. Mason’s Niel victory came by 20 seconds over Wyseure, demonstrating his suitability for wet, technical racing, while Wyseure’s Middelkerke win and European silver make him equally difficult to overlook. Joris Nieuwenhuis (Heizomat-Cube), third at Niel, also has compelling course credentials: he won Merksplas last year by six seconds.
Bollekescross men: Nys to win. The European champion skips Saturday, while several principal rivals face consecutive starts. His Koppenbergcross victory, recovering from crashes before beating Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw) on the finishing climb, showed both strength and resilience. Vanthourenhout is the leading challenger, though his Niel crash cost him another chance of victory. Mason becomes especially dangerous if Sunday is also muddy.
Merksplas women: Lucinda Brand (Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsbureau Lions) to win. Her return after abandoning Niel is an encouraging sign, and she is our clear favourite, although it remains to be seen whether her foot is fully recovered. Aniek van Alphen (777TV CX Team) will hope Brand is not quite at 100%. Van Alphen’s Middelkerke victory owed much to riding an off-camber rise and jumping the barriers. That handling should suit Merksplas’s sand, barriers and off-camber terrain; she also finished second here last year.
Brand twisted her foot at Niel, but an examination found no serious injury, and she will race both days with support.
Photo: Massimo Fulgenzi/SprintCyclingAgency©2026Bollekescross women: Brand to win. Her Overijse and Koppenbergcross victories, followed by the European title after Marie Schreiber’s relegation, justify keeping her favourite on Sunday. Consecutive racing will test the foot, however. Manon Bakker, Wednesday’s Niel winner by 14 seconds, is the strongest alternative; Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) offers consistency after podiums at Overijse and Middelkerke.
Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Premier Tech) misses both races because her injured thumb still lacks sufficient grip strength. Marie Schreiber (Team SD Worx-Protime) is taking a planned break.
Superprestige standings entering Merksplas
Leading six men and leading four women before Saturday’s race.
Rank | Men | Men’s points | Women | Women’s points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mason | 39 | Van Alphen | 40 |
| 2 | Wyseure | 38 | Denise Betsema (De Ceuster Bouwkranen) | 37 |
| 3 | Vanthourenhout | 37 | Van der Heijden | 36 |
| 4 | Kevin Kuhn (Heizomat-Cube) | 34 | Amandine Fouquenet (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw) | 33 |
| 5 | Felipe Orts (Euskaltel-Euskadi) | 31 | – | – |
| 6 | Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Premier Tech Development Team) | 26 | – | – |
Superprestige awards 15 points for victory, then one fewer per position down to 15th. Mason’s one-point lead and Van Alphen’s three-point advantage are vulnerable as the series reaches halfway. Racing continues at Ruddervoorde on December 6, ahead of its Christmas Day round.
X2O standings entering Bollekescross
Leading five men and leading three women. Men: leader’s adjusted time, then gaps. Women: adjusted total times.
Rank | Men | Men’s time / gap | Women | Women’s adjusted time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nys | 1:01:16 | Brand | 53:04 |
| 2 | Vanthourenhout | +0:02 | Sara Casasola (Crelan-Corendon) | 53:57 |
| 3 | Gerben Kuypers (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw) | +0:47 | Schreiber | 54:46 |
| 4 | Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsbureau Lions) | +1:12 | – | – |
| 5 | Mason | +1:16 | – | – |
X2O adds adjusted race times rather than position points. First-lap sprint and fastest-lap bonuses each award 15, ten and five seconds, enough to overturn Nys’s two-second lead. Missing a round, abandoning or finishing more than five minutes behind produces the winner’s time plus five minutes. That makes Brand’s fitness important beyond Sunday’s victory contest, while Schreiber’s absence will cost her overall.
How to watch Merksplas and Bollekescross
UK viewers can watch Merksplas on TNT Sports 2, with streaming through HBO Max. Sunday’s X2O racing is carried by TNT Sports/HBO Max. The UK TNT Sports streaming plan costs £30.99 monthly, or £25.99 monthly with a 12-month commitment. HBO Max replaced Discovery+ as TNT Sports’ streaming home on March 26.
Belgian viewers can watch Saturday’s racing on the paid channels Play Sports and Pickx+ Sports, but Sunday is on Sporza/VRT MAX. Our cyclocross viewing guide explains the subscription split.
How to watch
| Region | Broadcaster | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 UK | TNT Sports / HBO Max | £30.99/month or £25.99/month with a 12-month commitment | Saturday: TNT Sports 2 and HBO Max. Sunday: TNT Sports/HBO Max. Territorial restrictions apply. |
 Belgium | Play Sports, Pickx+ Sports / Sporza, VRT MAX | Saturday paid; Sunday free | Saturday live on Play Sports and Pickx+ Sports, with Sporza highlights. Sunday live on Sporza/VRT MAX. |
 Netherlands | Eurosport 1 / HBO Max | Paid subscription | Saturday: Eurosport 1 and HBO Max. Sunday: HBO Max. Regional rights apply. |
 US | FloSports / FloBikes | Subscription required | Both events listed; Sunday also has a subscriber replay. Territorial restrictions apply. |
 Canada | FloSports / FloBikes | Subscription required | Saturday listed by the organiser; Sunday access subject to territorial rights. |
 Australia | FloSports / FloBikes | Subscription required | Saturday listed by the organiser; Sunday access subject to territorial rights. |
UKBelgiumNetherlandsUSCanadaAustraliaHBO Max and FloSports apply territorial restrictions and advise disabling VPNs or proxies when troubleshooting location errors. An official feed does not guarantee access abroad through a VPN: check the broadcaster’s location restrictions and terms before travelling.
