{"id":51301,"title":"Xan Crees Cyclocross Champion","description":"Interview with devoted cyclocross rider Xan Crees who won the 2025 British National Cyclocross Championship.\nWe discover who she made the breakthrough at the relative late age of twenty four and her plans for racing cyclocross in Britain and Belgium during the 2025-26 cyclocross season, and her long term plans to create a British cyclocross team.","content":"

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

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By modern cycle racing standards, if a rider hasn't had a breakthrough by the age of twenty-four, they probably never will. But devoted cyclocross rider Xan Crees bucked the trend in 2025 when she won the British National Cyclocross Championship.<\/p>

Now she wants to take her cycling career to another level and has ambitious plans for the future. Read on to find out how she dramatically elevated her performance and what the future has in store for her.<\/p>

\"XanXan Crees is the British National Cyclocross Champion. Image: Xan Crees<\/em><\/p>

Triumph<\/h2>

Two riders are locked in a tense battle for the lead. At stake is the 2025 British National Cyclocross Championship. As the laps have counted down, as rivals have fallen away, it\u2019s become clear one of these two will be crowned champion.<\/p>

\"ImageXan Crees (left) side by side with Cat Ferguson<\/em><\/p>

In the lead is the former junior Cyclo-Cross World Championship silver medallist, Cat Ferguson, a Movistar professional. Her opponent, six years her senior, is part-timer Xan Crees, who rides for the amateur Spectra Racing team.<\/p>

They slither side by side down a steep bank. The early morning frost has thawed, and bright winter sunshine has churned the crisp grass into a morass. Neither challenger is prepared to give way. They almost touch, and one rider falls. Xan Crees stays upright. She streaks onwards to press home her advantage.<\/p>

.At the finish, she has retained a five-second edge over her rival. Victory is hers. She crosses the line and tears steam from her face. The years of training in the dark, the disappointments and injuries are behind her. She collapses into the arms of her waiting family.<\/p>

Before her National Championship triumph, Xan had only taken the top spot in one of the UK\u2019s Cyclocross National Trophy races, and that was back in 2023.<\/p>

How did she transform herself from a respected and reliable cyclocrosser to a champion? We sat down with the Hunt Wheels customer adviser to find out.<\/p>

\"ImageThe crucial moment when Ferguson slides out<\/em><\/p>

The road to victory<\/h2>

Kicking out complacency<\/h3>

Xan credits two key differences from previous years for her success. Firstly, for the first time in three seasons, she managed to avoid any significant illness. Secondly, and possibly even more influential, was a change of coach.<\/p>

Xan had been working with the same coach since she\u2019d been a teenager. Maybe it\u2019s inevitable that a degree of complacency would establish itself within their relationship after ten years.<\/p>

It was a conversation with her existing coach that forced her to consider her goals and aspirations. He\u2019d suggested that she should consider concentrating on her working career and take up a full-time position, rather than the three days a week with Hunt Wheels.<\/p>

ABOUT RIJDEN<\/strong>: <\/span>Rijden grew from a passion for Flemish-style cycle racing. We're a small UK independent that publishes a <\/em>free online cycling magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/a> and sustainable gifts for fans of cycling\u2019s classics and cyclocross. Read <\/em>more about Rijden<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>

In that moment, Xan was forced to appraise her options. Faced with the realisation that her cycling career had plateaued, something had to change. It was now or never, so she engaged a new coach.<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have your best cyclocross season ever.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

During her second phone call with him, he uttered what would prove to be a prophetic claim: \u201cWe\u2019re going to have your best cyclocross season ever.\u201d It was like a lightning strike to the heart of Xan\u2019s self-belief.<\/p>

Having a coach with such confidence in her innate ability invigorated her. Suddenly, riding and training felt different. Xan had always enjoyed cycling, but now she relished the prospect.<\/p>

Her training became more focused. The introduction of \u2018big weeks\u2019 and rest periods provided greater specificity with clear aims. Xan says that now, instead of just riding her bike, she knows exactly why she\u2019s completing each session.<\/p>

\"ImageOnly a crash can now prevent Xan from winning<\/em><\/p>

Learning the winning way<\/h3>

Xan competed in twenty-one foreign UCI classified races during the 2024-25 season. The majority in Belgium, but she raced in the Netherlands, France, Ireland and Sweden too. It was a series of five in Sweden, however, that she believes was instrumental in teaching her how to win.<\/p>

She\u2019d headed out to Taby, 15 kilometres north of the capital Stockholm and close to the Baltic Sea, in search of those critical UCI points. Xan was hoping to boost her UCI Cyclo-Cross ranking, which is based on a rider\u2019s cumulative points.<\/p>

To guarantee her selection for the UCI\u2019s World Cup Cyclo-Cross competitions, she\u2019d need to break into the top fifty-ranked riders. Not only did Xan grab herself a slew of points, she also learnt some important tactical lessons.<\/p>

Xan feels the Sweden experience of five events in eight days taught her how to win bike races. At this point, she\u2019d only won one UCI race, the 2023 National Trophy round at Cyclopark. Whilst not large, the fields in Sweden had some strong opposition, including a squad from the De Ceuster-Bouwpunt team led by Jinse Peeters.<\/p>

The Flandrian has finished fourth in the Belgian National Cyclocross Championships and has a reputation as an unforgiving competitor. A distinction that was reinforced when she came to blows with Manon Bakker at the Exact Cross Maldegem, resulting in their joint expulsion from the event.<\/p>

Xan won one of the five race series, but is convinced she learnt from the four where she didn\u2019t. Realising she\u2019d not always exploited her technical prowess to her advantage, and having to contend with team tactics, proved an invaluable education.<\/p>

\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t had those opportunities to race for the win, the National Champs could have been a completely different race\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

As she says herself, \u201cIf I hadn\u2019t had those opportunities to race for the win, the National Champs could have been a completely different race\u201d.<\/p>

\"TheThe final day of the National Championships began with a hard frost, but soon turned muddy<\/em><\/p>

Gambling on Dendermonde World Cup<\/h3>

Leading up to the National Championships, Xan\u2019s objective was to finally step onto the podium after her fourth place at Westmorland two years previously. She didn\u2019t count herself as a favourite for the championship.<\/p>

Her race plans for the weekend before the National Championships at Cyclopark were to ride the Grand Prix Sven Nys on Saturday, followed by the Bradford round of the National Trophy the next day. Considerable drives in opposite directions from her home in West Sussex.<\/p>

At the last minute, however, she decided against the National Trophy. A poor performance there against her expected rivals would have severely dented her confidence. It turned out to be both a wise and fortuitous decision.<\/p>

Her seventeenth place at the Grand Prix Sven Nys on New Year\u2019s Day was one of her best yet against top international competition. Reigning British National Champion Anna Kay was sixth, but just two and a half minutes in front.<\/p>

Other potential rivals for a podium place at the National Championships, Imogen Wolff and Ella Maclean-Howell, also finished ahead of Xan.<\/p>

Skipping the National Trophy round at Bradford avoided travelling to Yorkshire, and as it transpired, the event was cancelled due to heavy snow. Not because the riders couldn\u2019t have coped, but because the surrounding roads were closed.<\/p>

Instead, she lined up in an extremely wet and muddy Dendermonde. As cyclocross aficionados would describe it, \u201cproper cross\u201d. Xan loved it. It\u2019s her favourite conditions and she snaked and slid her way to eighteenth place. One ahead of her sparring partner from Sweden, Jinse Peeters and just two behind Team Visma | Lease a Bike professional Imogen Wolff.<\/p>

Britain\u2019s Zoe Backstedt was fifth but was not entered for the National Championships. Xan\u2019s confidence began to grow. She was coming into form at the right time, and a wet or slippery Cyclopark played to her strengths. The weather just had to play its part, and Xan began to consider a win as a possibility.<\/p>

The night before her denouement with destiny, she messaged her parents. Could they bring her National Champion\u2019s skinsuit from when she had won the Gravel Championships in 2023? She\u2019d need it if she won, as she was down to ride at Otegem in Flanders the next day.<\/p>

\u201cIt was scary sending the message because it was telling someone that maybe I could do well today.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

As Xan describes the significance of the text, \u201cIt was scary sending the message because it was telling someone that maybe I could do well today.\u201d<\/p>

\"TheThe conditions at Cyclopark were challenging as demonstrated by Imogen Wolff<\/em><\/p>

Winning the National Cyclocross Championships<\/h3>

Xan laughs when she considers whether she\u2019d been happy with third place at the Cyclocross National Championships. I suspect she\u2019s not sure herself, but says that she likes to think she would have been. It is, fortunately for her, a rhetorical conundrum.<\/p>

Sunday, the twelfth of January 2025, was not a wet day in northern Kent, far from it. Overnight, the temperatures had plummeted once again, and the ground was frosted and frozen hard. As the sun rose on a perfect winter\u2019s morning, the upper crust of the soil became pliable and, turned over by the earlier races, transformed into a treacherous quagmire. Xan was in her element.<\/p>

<\/p>

First time across the finish line, Cat Ferguson had an eight-second lead over Crees with Imogen Wolff in close pursuit. Reigning champion Anna Kay was only placed fourth, and she would drop out after the next lap following a crash and mechanical issues.<\/p>

Crees had whittled Cat\u2019s lead down to a mere two seconds by the end of the second lap. By the third, she\u2019d overhauled her professional rival. Xan held a narrow four-second advantage over Ferguson after the fourth.<\/p>

\u201chow do I actually win this bike race?\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Given the encouragement and time gaps shouted by her pit crew, Xan knew that a podium place was a virtual certainty. It was only at this point that she considered the possibility of victory, and she switched her thinking to \u201chow do I actually win this bike race?\u201d.<\/p>

Four-time junior World Champion and already a winner at Binche Chimay Binche pour Dames, Ferguson was stronger on the power sections where she\u2019d constantly pull Crees back, before the latter would eke out a narrow advantage on the tricky corners and undulations.<\/p>

Then came the crucial crash for Ferguson. Crees piled on the pressure, and as the bell rang out with a lap left, she was clear by nineteen seconds. The large crowd, gathered to watch the spectacle, roared their support for their favourite.<\/p>

Skipping a pit change, Xan was assured in her mind that the triumph would be hers, as long as she stayed upright. And then she fell with only a few minutes of riding left. And she knew Cat had seen her go down.<\/p>

Into the final minutes, both women pushed their bodies and bikes to the limit. With the ground providing negligible grip, every corner presented heightened risk. Every extra pressure on the pedals courted disaster.<\/p>

Finally, with just five seconds to spare, Xan crossed the line, arms aloft to be proclaimed the new champion.<\/p>

World Championships non-selection<\/h2>

There was little time for Xan to celebrate her success. A few quick interviews with the local BBC station and UK cycling journalists, and then it was time to pack her bags and head out to Flanders for the following day\u2019s race in Otegem.<\/p>

READ MORE<\/span><\/strong>: <\/span>Want to watch cyclocross on TV? Our handy cyclocross TV guide explains which races you can watch this season via Eurosport, TNT Sports, Discovery+, Sporza, HBO Max and any viable alternatives.<\/span><\/em><\/p>

\"Cyclocross<\/u><\/a>There was a limited opportunity for her family and close friends to salute her achievement. Fortunately, most of them were present at Cyclopark, and even her regular Belgian pit man Johan had made the trip to Kent.<\/p>

There was no party and only a light snack before she arrived back in the heartland of cyclocross for the traditional post-Nationals Internationale Cyclocross Otegem. It\u2019s an independent non-televised event organised by members of the local community that dates back to 1969.<\/p>

Xan\u2019s result was poor by her own standards, finishing well down the field amongst riders she\u2019d be more likely to lap. The result in this one race matters little, as the spectators have come to see the new National Champions rather than spectacular racing.<\/p>

Xan\u2019s off-day can be explained in part by her very limited time to rest, her lack of sustenance and by disappointing news she\u2019d received in the morning. She\u2019d been informed the day after the British National Championships that she\u2019d not been selected for the World Cyclocross Championships.<\/p>

READ MORE<\/strong>: The Last time we caught up with Xan Crees was in October 2022, when she was working at Subway to fund her racing in Belgium.<\/em><\/p>

\"Meet<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Indeed, it transpired that no British elite women had been chosen to represent their country at the 2025 World Championships held at Li\u00e9vin, just 80 miles from the UK. Xan is diplomatic about the decision, but she says it brought her down to earth with a bump, even if she\u2019d never been expected to be selected.<\/p>

She respects British Cycling\u2019s decision, even if she\u2019d have been delighted to have ridden the World Championships, and now it is just water under the bridge. Xan does, however, believe that it\u2019s better for the development of British cyclocross if we have at least one representative in each race as long as they are fully capable of beating the 80% rule.<\/p>

As we wrote at the time: how do you explain to the eight-year-old girl whose come to watch the World Championships that there are no British riders to support?<\/p>

Late developer<\/h2>

Xan recognises that she\u2019s taken an unconventional route to cycling success. She wasn\u2019t selected for any of British Cycling\u2019s junior academies. Her performances only became notable once she\u2019d turned twenty-one, and it's only four years since she was selected for her first UCI World Cup.<\/p>

\u201cIf you love your sport and keep going, you can still do well.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

With the modern focus on youth and World Tour teams signing riders whilst still competing as juniors, there rarely seems a place for cycling\u2019s late developers. She\u2019s pleased to be able to offer an alternative narrative, that not everyone is brilliant at 15. As she says, \u201cIf you love your sport and keep going, you can still do well.\u201d<\/p>

She\u2019s been attending some training sessions of the flourishing youth club, Solent Pirates. She\u2019s enjoyed seeing riders progress and develop their skills. Does she see herself as a role model, I ask? With a chuckle, she replies that most of the youngsters probably don\u2019t even know who she is.<\/p>

Her response that \u201cThey probably just think I\u2019m another coach\u201d reflects that for her, the national title has made little difference to her life. She\u2019s still the same girl who fell in love with cyclocross.<\/p>

She still works at Hunt Wheels, fitting her training around her ride to work and coping with dark nights as autumn and winter draw close. Success has not gone to her head, but maybe it offers her the chance to take her cycling to a new level.<\/p>

\"ImageRival Amy Perryman has been an invaluable source of help to Xan<\/em><\/p>

One woman team<\/h2>

The sponsor hunt<\/h3>

And that new level is riding as a one-woman team backed by sponsors who\u2019ll fund her racing in the UK and abroad. Her initial aim is to continue working part-time for Hunt Wheels with sponsorship covering her racing costs, including travel to and from mainland Europe and support staff such as a mechanic. Although Xan will be the only rider in the squad, she and her partner Jonah are building a team around her.<\/p>

This includes Jonah and confusingly Johan, her Belgian \u201cangel\u201d, who pits for her in Belgian races. It's proved to be rather confusing, so Jonah is referred to as Philip, his middle name. Unsurprisingly, this adds further puzzlement as people think that's his proper name.<\/p>

\"XanXan with Johan (right), her Belgian \u2018angel\u2019. Image: Xan Crees<\/em><\/p>

Attracting sponsors and suppliers to the team has been far more time-consuming than she envisaged, and it\u2019s been a big learning curve. Attracting sponsors for what in the UK is a niche discipline within a minority sport is challenging in the best of years.<\/p>

With the UK economy generally and the bike industry specifically facing those notorious \u2018economic headwinds\u2019, it\u2019s a taxing process to establish leads, cultivate the possibles, and, after months, sign the deal with the committed.<\/p>

Supply line issues have introduced additional difficulties, with some willing sponsors struggling to source appropriate specialist equipment. Xan and her partner have drawn upon the experience and knowledge of fellow individual rider, and frequent rival, Amy Perryman.<\/p>

It's a testament to the camaraderie and friendship of the cyclocross community that a rival in the field and potentially the boardroom has given their help so freely.<\/p>

Xan has attracted sponsorship from OGT (One Good Thing), makers of energy bars with plastic-free wrappers, USE Components, Workx, known for their popular battery-powered washers and Hunt, who unsurprisingly will supply Xan\u2019s wheels.<\/p>

The team will be known as OGT p\/b USE, and we can expect to see Xan on our TV screens riding in the Belgian cyclocross series and World Cups from November onwards. Before that, she\u2019ll be focusing on her fitness and British races.<\/p>

\"OneOne of the few full-time British cyclocross riders on a World Tour team - Imogen Wolff<\/em><\/p>

The ambition<\/h3>

Xan\u2019s longer-term plan is to attract sufficient sponsorship income that she can be paid a salary and forgo the necessity of paid employment with Hunt Wheels, which she describes as a fantastic employer.<\/p>

At present, she works Tuesday to Thursday at Hunt Wheels, with Mondays and Fridays used for travelling to events. Xan explains that Hunt Wheels have been extremely accommodating when she\u2019s needed additional time off work for mid-week races.<\/p>

\"PictureXan is supported by OGT, USE, Workx and Hunt Wheels. Image: Xan Crees<\/em><\/p>

In the future, she has ambitions to build a small squad of British cyclocross riders. As Xan rightly points out, Britain has sufficient talent in cyclocross to warrant a team.<\/p>

What is missing for those who won\u2019t get picked up by World Tour or Belgian-based professional cyclocross teams is the necessary opportunity. At present, the only full-time British cyclocross riders in World Tour or Belgian-based professional cyclocross teams are Zoe Backstedt, Imogen Wolff and Cameron Mason. Xan's rival for the national title, Cat Ferguson, might have ridden more cyclocross events last season, but it was limited by injury.<\/p>

It\u2019s an extremely ambitious and stretching target, but given the hard journey to get this far, you wouldn't bet against Xan to achieve it.<\/p>

5 September 2025, Tim Costello<\/em><\/p>

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

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