The competition day will be opened on Sunday at 11 am by the junior boys, where the Belgian medal hopes are mainly based on Giel Lejeune. The 17-year-old Flemish Brabander will be joined by Lars Corsus, Arthur Janssens, Brent Lippens, Emiel Osaer, Bas Vanden Eynde, Jari Van Lee and Thomas Verdonck. In the girls promises (13 hours), defending champion Célia Gery is the top favorite. The 19-year-old Frenchwoman surprised last weekend with a second place in the Koppenbergcross among the elite. Shanyl De Schoesitter and Ilken Seynaeve must uphold Belgian honor.
At 3 p.m. all eyes will be on the men’s elite match. Last year, Thibau Nys won his very first star jersey on the lightning-fast course in Pontevedra, Spain, and leads the Belgian team. The 22-year-old Flemish Brabander immediately scored on the Koppenberg on his return to the field last week, but after an absolutely disappointing day he only finished fifteenth in Lokeren. Moreover, Nys does not really find a course that suits him on the North Sea beach, unlike Laurens Sweeck. The 31-year-old from Leuven has not really been convincing this season, but as a sand specialist he has an edge over the rest.
With Toon Aerts (2016) and Michael Vanthourenhout (2022 and 2023), winners in Ruddervoorde and Overijse, Belgium still has two former European champions in its ranks. Emiel Verstrynge, Niels Vandeputte, Jente Michels and Joran Wyseure complete the Belgian selection. Eli Iserbyt, the 2020 European champion, will have to leave his bike aside for another four weeks after multiple groin operations. Wout van Aert, like the Dutch Mathieu van der Poel and Tibor Del Grosso, will only enter the field later in the season.
The competition in Middelkerke once again comes from our northern neighbors. For example, Joris Nieuwenhuis won impressively in Lokeren and he seems to have achieved high form just in time, just like Pim Ronhaar, who always finished on the podium during his last four crosses. With Lars van der Haar (2015 and 2021), the Dutch also have a two-time European champion. The Spaniard Felipe Orts and the British Cameron Mason, who won silver at the European Championships in the past two editions, are outsiders.
It has been since 2022 that the European cyclocross championships have been organized on Belgian soil. Then Namur was the meeting place. The North Sea Cross is held annually in Middelkerke, but for the European Championships, just like for the 2022 BC, the cross will move to the military domain of Lombardsijde. Wout van Aert and Sanne Cant won the Belgian titles there at the time.