The 2017–18 Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup was a season long cyclo-cross competition, organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup took place between 17 September 2017 and 28 January 2018, over a total of nine events. The defending champions were Wout van Aert in the men's competition and Sophie de Boer in the women's competition.
Both elite titles were won at the penultimate round of the season at Nommay. Despite finishing twelfth in the race, Sanne Cant won the women's title after her closest rival Kaitlin Keough finished the Nommay race in second behind compatriot Katie Compton.[1] Cant was the only female rider to win more than once, winning five times during the season. Other races were won by Kateřina Nash, Maud Kaptheijns and Evie Richards, who became the first under-23 woman to win an elite race, when she won at Namur.
In the men's competition, Mathieu van der Poel won each of the first four races to build up a lead on van Aert and the rest. Van Aert won the next two races in Germany and at Namur, but with wins at Heusden-Zolder and Nommay,[2] van der Poel gathered an unassailable lead going into the final round at Hoogerheide; he won that race as well, garnering podium finishes at all nine events during the campaign.
The men's under-23 title was won by Tom Pidcock, having won four World Cup races in as many starts, giving him an unassailable lead after the Grand Prix Erik De Vlaeminck at Circuit Zolder,[3] as a rider's best four scores (from seven races) counted towards the classification.[4] The women's under-23 title was won by Fleur Nagengast, while the junior men's title went to Tomáš Kopecký.
Points distribution
Points were awarded to all eligible riders each race. The top ten finishers received points according to the following table:
Elite riders finishing in positions 11 to 50 also received points, going down from 40 points for 11th place by one point per place to 1 point for 50th place.[5]
For the age group riders (excluding under-23 women), those finishing in positions 11 to 30 also received points, going down from 20 points for 11th place by one point per place to 1 point for 30th place.[5] As well as this, only the top four scores for each rider count towards the World Cup standings.[4]
^Women's under-23 riders were awarded points on the elite scale, as all women competed within the same race.[6] Two jerseys were awarded; one for the leading elite woman and one for the leading under-23 woman.[7]
^This tally included 43 under-23 riders, which the UCI awarded a separate jersey for.[7]
References
^Decaluwé, Brecht (21 January 2018). "Compton dominates in Nommay World Cup". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 28 January 2018. In the World Cup standings, Cant clinched the overall win as she enjoys a bonus of more than 80 points on Keough, with only 80 points at stake for the winner at the final round in Hoogerheide next week.
