{"id":32702,"title":"Guide: UCI Cyclo-cross teams explained","description":"In this article, we\u2019ll try to explain what UCI Cyclocross teams are and why Mathieu van der Poel rode for three UCI teams.","content":"

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Published in<\/strong>: CYCLOCROSS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

In this article, we\u2019ll try to explain what UCI Cyclo-cross teams are and why Mathieu van der Poel was at one time riding for three UCI teams simultaneously.<\/p>

\"ImageIf you\u2019re a keen cycling fan, you\u2019re probably familiar with the different types of UCI road teams, including WorldTour and Pro Continental, but cyclocross has its team structure too.<\/p>

That might seem odd, given that cyclocross is much less of a team competition than road racing. We investigate the two-tier UCI cyclocross team structure and try to explain why Mathieu van der Poel was registered with three UCI teams during the 2023-24 season.<\/p>

What are the UCI Cyclo-cross teams?<\/h3>

The UCI has created two levels of cyclocross teams<\/strong><\/a>. The UCI Cyclo-cross team (CRO) and UCI Professional Cyclo-cross team (P-CRO). You might be tempted to think the difference is that one is for professionals and the other for amateurs, but that\u2019s not the case at all.<\/p>

It\u2019s quite possible to run a UCI Cyclo-cross team (CRO) where all the riders are paid professionals. Indeed, that\u2019s the structure many teams operate under. The difference between a CRO and P-CRO team is the minimum size of the teams, which races they can enter and how much they have to pay the UCI for the pleasure of registering.<\/p>

Note that the UCI generally, or maybe always, refers to cyclocross as cyclo-cross. It\u2019s typical of the crazy sport that is cyclocross that we can\u2019t even all agree on what it\u2019s called.<\/p>

What\u2019s the difference between them?<\/h3>

A UCI Cyclo-cross team (CRO) must have a minimum of three riders, at least 19 years old, and one of these must be female. For example, at the time of writing, both Crelan-Corendon and Cyclocross Reds were registered as CRO teams.<\/p>

Crelan-Corendon has twelve registered riders including Sara Casasola and Laurens Sweeck. 777TV CX Team has four riders including Lauren Molengraaf and Cameron Mason.<\/p>

A UCI Professional Cyclo-cross team (P-CRO) must have a minimum of ten riders, at least 19 years old and no more than 16. There\u2019s a further stipulation which I think is interesting. The team must either have a minimum of ten male riders or a minimum of eight female riders.<\/p>

Thus a P-CRO team could consist of all men, or it could consist of ten women, or eight women and two \u2018spare\u2019 men.<\/p>

There\u2019s only ever been a maximum of four P-CRO teams. In 2024-25 there were three. That dropped to one (Pauwels Sauzen - Altez Industriebouw) in 2025-26, and this year there are none.<\/p>

Why register as a UCI Cyclo-cross team?<\/h3>

A rider does not have to be a member of a UCI-registered team to ride in UCI cyclocross races, including the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cups. For example, Jens Adams and Gerben Kuypers regularly rode the 2022-23 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cups despite neither belonging to UCI teams.<\/p>

So why do teams go to the trouble and expense of registering?<\/p>

Firstly, the registered teams get recognition from the UCI. The team names are included in the entry lists, and results for World Cups and the team name may appear on the World Cup leader\u2019s jersey.<\/p>

They also get a minimum number of team helpers accredited into the pit zones and car parking spaces.<\/p>

\"Cycling<\/a><\/p>

The UCI Professional Cyclo-cross teams gain the option of competing on the road in events where UCI Continental teams are allowed to enter. This is how the Baloise Trek Lions and Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal teams used to be able to ride such races as the Baloise Tour of Belgium.<\/p>

As Baloise Trek Lions (now Baloise Verzekeringen - Het Poetsbureau Lions) didn\u2019t register as a P-CRO team in 2026, it had to register as a UCI Continental road team to ride the 2026 Baloise Tour of Belgium.<\/p>

You might be wondering how Wout van Aert gets Jumbo-Visma alongside his name on the World Cup results. That\u2019s because all UCI teams get listed on the results regardless of whether road, cyclocross or mountain bike teams.<\/p>

Jens Adams and Gerben Kuypers, because they weren\u2019t riding for UCI-registered teams in 2022-23, were listed in UCI Cyclo-cross World Cups as riding for Belgium.<\/p>

The UCI\u2019s rules for cyclocross state that \u201cRiders, men and women, belonging to the following teams are allowed to race cyclo-cross events under the name and the clothing of their respective team<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>

Those teams include UCI cyclocross, road and mountain bike teams. That rule implies to me that only members of those UCI teams should wear their trade kit, although it\u2019s quite ambiguous.<\/p>

Whatever the rule really means or is intended to imply, Jens Adams rode in his one-man Chocovit trade team jersey at the World Cups in 2022-23.<\/p>

UCI Cyclo-cross team obligations<\/h3>

Obviously, these benefits have to be paid for. It\u2019s \u20ac1,200 for a CRO team and \u20ac6,500 for a P-CRO team, plus the relevant national federation\u2019s fee.<\/p>

Professional Cyclo-cross teams are obligated to send an elite male or female to every round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. If they don\u2019t, they immediately lose their P-CRO status. Unless they can show the national federations that their riders didn\u2019t send any.<\/p>

\"Read<\/a><\/p>

Why was Mathieu van der Poel registered with three UCI teams?<\/h3>

I\u2019ll be quite honest, I\u2019m not sure. Mathieu van der Poel was registered as a rider with the Alpecin-Deceuninck World Tour team, Alpecin-Deceuninck MTB team and Alpecin-Deceuninck UCI Cyclo-cross team.<\/p>

I had wondered if they needed his name to meet the minimum number of riders as a UCI Cyclo-cross team, but this isn\u2019t the case. He doesn\u2019t need to ride for the Alpecin-Deceuninck UCI Cyclo-cross team as his team, and thus sponsors would get full coverage if he entered as a WorldTour team member.<\/p>

I assume that individual sponsors and suppliers have different arrangements with the various Alpecin-Deceuninck teams and Mathieu gets \u2018shared out\u2019 between them. I wonder if Mathieu has trouble knowing which team he\u2019s riding for when he enters races. But I guess that\u2019s not something he ever has to deal with.<\/p>

The Roodhooft brothers<\/h3>

Brothers Christophe and Philip Roodhooft are pivotal in the sport of cyclocross. They manage two of the UCI Cyclo-cross teams: Crelan-Corendon and 777TV Cx Team. That\u2019s a quarter of all the Belgian teams and with a total of fifteen riders, over ten per cent of riders in UCI Cyclo-cross teams.<\/p>

It doesn\u2019t stop there either. As well as Mathieu van der Poel, Niels Vandeputte, Puck Pieterse and many more top riders ride on the road and in cyclocross for the Roodhoofts\u2019 Alpecin-Premier Tech and Fenix Premier Tech teams.<\/p>

Virtually all of the Crelan-Corendon and 777TV CX Team are also registered to ride with the Alpecin-Premier Tech, Fenix-Premier Tech road teams or their Development versions.<\/p>

The overlap between the teams, riders, sponsors and equipment is quite a work of logistical art, although they do share the same service centre. Whilst Fenix-Premier Techand Alpecin Premier Tech all ride Canyon bikes, Crelan-Corendon and 777TV CX Team both employ Stevens frames.<\/p>

It\u2019s a complex financial and administrative web. If the Roodhooft brothers who sit like spiders at the epicentre ever decide to decamp from professional cycling, the fallout would be huge.<\/p>

Current makeup of UCI Cyclo-cross teams<\/h3>

There are a total of 24 UCI Cyclo-cross teams this season, compared to 26 in 2025-26.<\/p>

Belgium has the most with six cyclocross teams registered with the UCI; France has five, Germany, Spain and the USA two each, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Italy and Luxembourg one each.<\/p>

One hundred and thirty seven riders are registered with UCI cyclocross teams. Belgium has 32, the Netherlands has 17, France 25, Great Britain 14, Spain 10 and the USA 15.<\/p>

19 October 2023, Tim Costello<\/em><\/p>

Revised 2 September 2026<\/em><\/p>

All images and text are the copyright of Rijden unless stated otherwise.<\/em><\/p>

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