Watch Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel in action on January 25 in a mouth-watering penultimate round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Maasmechelen.
The event is the 10th round of the 2024-25 World Cup and takes place in the Belgian town of Maasmechelen, where Fem Van Empel and Lars van der Haar scored victory last season.
Van der Poel and Van Aert steal the headlines wherever they go but they'll be part of a strong field that includes World Cup leader Michael Vanthourenhout, who could take a big step towards the overall series title here. Eli Iserbyt, Toon Aerts, Laurens Sweeck, and Lars van der Haar are all present but Thibau Nys misses out through illness.
In the women's race, Lucinda Brand has the World Cup series in the palm of her hand, and second-placed Fem van Empel will have to win and hope for a lowly Brand finish to have any chance on Sunday. Other big names towards the top of the standings are are Zoe Backstedt, Blanka Vas, Marie Schreiber, and Inge van der Heijden.
The UCI is once again running its free live stream in many countries, so read on for all the information on how to watch these star cyclocross riders do battle in Maasmechelen.
UCI World Cup cyclocross free streams
Fans in many counties can watch the Maasmechelen round of the Cyclocross World Cup for free, with the UCI as ever producing a free live stream on its UCI YouTube channel.
All you have to do is head to the channel - no registration and no payment is needed.
Good news for our readers in the US, Canada, and Australia – the UCI's free cyclocross stream for Maasmechelen is not geo-restricted for you this time around. However, fans in the UK will still be locked out. The UCI has a list of territories where the feed is blocked on this page.
In addition to the UCI's YouTube stream, Cyclocross World Cup Maasmechelen will be shown live on free-to-air TV in Belgium, going out on VRT1 and the free VRT Max streaming platform.
Away from home? You can still access your usual streams, by using a VPN – more on that below.
Watch cyclocross from anywhere
If you are outside of your home region and need to access your live streaming services to watch the action, you may find your access to be geo-restricted. But that doesn't mean you can't watch the races.
In this case, a VPN will come in handy. A Virtual Private Network – to give it its full name – allows your computer to pretend it's in a different country, letting you log into your streaming accounts to catch all of the racing action.
Our expert colleagues at TechRadar recommend using a VPN for streaming as well as enhanced cyber-security – they know a thing or two about VPNs and right now they rate NordVPN as the best VPN on the market.
Watch cyclocross World Cup Maasmechelen in the US and Canada
FloBikes has Cyclocross World Cup Maasmechelen listed on its schedule, with subscriptions costing $29.99 a month or $150 a year.
However, the UCI states that the free YouTube feed will be open to those in the US and Canada.
Watch UCI World Cup cyclocross live streams in the UK & Ireland
In the UK, the Maasmechelen round of the Cyclocross World Cup with Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel will be broadcast online on Discovery+.
A 'standard' subscription to Discovery+, which is all you need to get Eurosport's cycling coverage, costs £6.99 a month.
Fans in the UK don't have access to the UCI's free stream. If you're a Discovery+ subscriber wanting to get your coverage and commentary outside the UK, or you're visiting the UK and want your usual UCI YouTube feed, in both cases you'd need a VPN, such as NordVPN.
Watch UCI World Cup cyclocross around the world
For Belgian commentary and coverage from the country that knows cyclocross best, head to VRT Max for Sporza's coverage which is free.
For most European countries, the action will be on Eurosport or its streaming platforms - Discovery+ and Max, depending on exactly where you are.
Other broadcasters providing live coverage are J Sports in Japan, STVR in Slovakia, and CT Sport in the Czech Republic. Many others only have highlights.
Don't forget, the cyclocross is available totally for free in the countries that don't have a broadcaster, hosted on the UCI YouTube channel. And don't forget, you can tune in from anywhere if you're on the move, by using a VPN.
CYCLOCROSS WORLD CUP MAASMECHELEN SCHEDULE AND TIMINGS
January 25, 2025
Men Junior: 9:30am CET / 8:30am GMT / 4:30am ET
Women Junior: 10:30am CET / 9:30am GMT / 5:30am ET
Men U23: 12:00pm CET / 11:00am GMT / 6:00am ET
Women Elite: 1:40pm CET / 12:40pm GMT / 7:40am ET
Men Elite: 3:10pm CET / 2:10pm GMT / 9:10am ET
