Cyclocross reaches fever pitch as we head into the festive season. Big name riders, Tom Pidcock, Wout Van Aert and Mathieu Van der Poel are lined up to race those who have been battling each other since the middle of October. It's all there and ready. The only trouble? GCN+ isn't. So are are you supposed to watch Cyclocross live streams now that GCN+ has folded?
Read on and we'll show you how to watch the cycling wherever you are in the world with a VPN and potentially for free!
Whee to Watch Cyclocross
► U.K. — Discovery +
► U.S. — FloBikes
► Italy — Rai (FREE)
► Belgium. — Sporza (FREE)
► France — France TV (FREE)
► Watch anywhere — Try ExpressVPN 100% risk free
It’s not just the calibre of the Cyclocross competition that increases but also the frequency of the events with a race every couple of days to keep the beer addled Belgians and Dutch entertained throughout Christmas.
That's all well and good for the Europeans with their free Cyclocross live streams and Eurosport and Discovery Plus to fall back on when that fails. But what about cycling fans in the States, Canada, Australia and everywhere else?
Even with cycling streaming specialist GCN+ now out of the picture, there are still viewing options in most regions if you know where to find them. And you can always jump on the back of streams from elsewhere too with a VPN if you happen to be traveling away from home.
We've got all the details you need below to figure out which streaming services you'll need and even how to use a VPN too.
Next cyclocross live stream
Hoogerheide in the Netherlands hosted the final round of the season long World Cup and would decide the overall winner of the series. At the start of the day Eli Iserbyt sat at the top of the rankings with a comfortable lead and it would take a disaster to topple him.
At the end of lap two there was still no group formed at the front as new Dutch champ and second place in the series Joris Nieuwenhuis set the early pace but one lap later a group of five had pulled clear. This elite quintet of Nieuwenhuis, Iserbyt, Mathieu Van der Poel, Pim Ronhaar, and the young Tibot Nys forged clear but then their speed dropped to allow a whole host of other riders to make contact.
On lap 6 Van der Poel, riding in the race named after his father Adri, went ballistic up a short rise taking Nys with him and if this was any other race this year that would have been that but he didn't commit and half a lap later 4 more riders joined. In by far the closest race of the year it wasn’t until lap 8 of 9 that the decisive move came and on second attempt Van der Poel attacked and this time made it stick. He rode imperious to take his 12th win of the year and behind Iserbyt crossed the line in 5th to seal the over all series.
The race was the last chance for the riders to test their form before next week’s World Championships from Tabor in the Czech Republic on Sunday, February 4th. Race start 15.00 CET.
- Sporza (Belgium)
Away from home? Use a VPN to watch the Sporza live stream from abroad.
U.K. viewers can catch the action on Discovery Plus, the USA and Canada on FloBikes. Full details further down the page.
FREE Cyclocross live streams
If you live in Italy, Belgium or France then you can look forward to FREE Cyclocross live streams.
That's because the free-to-air Rai Sport in Italy, and Sporza in Belgium, and FranceTV in, yes, France all have rights to pieces of the action. They won't all have every race but they're a good place to look and we'll keep this page updated with specific coverage information for upcoming races.
But what if you're based in another country at the time of the race and aren't at home to catch your free Cyclocross coverage?
Don't worry — you can watch it using a VPN instead. We'll show you how to do that below.
Watch Cyclocross live streams anywhere
It's only natural that you might want to watch a Cyclocross live stream from your home country, but what if you're not there when the event is on?
Look no further than a VPN, or virtual private network. A VPN makes it look as if you're surfing the web from your home country, rather than the one you're in. That means you can access the streaming services you already pay for, from anywhere on Earth. Or anywhere that has an internet connection, at least.
They're totally legal, inexpensive and easy to use. We've tested the best VPN services and our favorite right now is ExpressVPN. It's fast, works on loads of devices and even offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Using a VPN is incredibly simple.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, ExpressVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance if you're in the U.S. and want to view a Belgian service, you'd select Belgium from the list.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to Sporza or another streaming service and watch the Cyclocross.
Watch Cyclocross live streams around the world
How to watch Cyclocross live streams in the U.S and Canada
Some live cycling in the USA and Canada will continue to be broadcast on FloBikes. A subscription will set you back US$149.99 / CAN$150 for the year or US$29.99 / CAN$29.99 on a monthly basis.
How to watch Cyclocross live streams in the U.K.
With the demise of GCN+, live coverage of the Cyclocross will continue to be broadcast on Eurosport and Discovery+ so no need to panic. It seems all the same races will be covered with the usual commentators that featured on GCN+.
A standard subscription to Discovery+ will set you back £6.99 per month or £59.99 per year. That is more than GCN+ but the package includes all cycling coverage as well as sports including snooker, tennis, motorsports, the Paris Olympic Games, and more.
If you're currently traveling overseas, don't worry, as you can use ExpressVPN to watch from abroad.
How to watch Cyclocross live streams in Australia
At the time of writing no Australian broadcasters appear to have picked up the rights to live stream cyclocross races in Australia after the closure of GCN+.
Not an Aussie? If you're based Down Under but have rights to other streams in other countries, you can use a VPN, such as ExpressVPN, to watch the cyclocross on a streaming service of your choice.
Remaining 2023-2024 season Cyclocross events
You can catch Van Aert and Van der Poel race each other head to head on December 22 and January 1 and you can also see Pidcock and Van de Poel battle each other on January 7 and January 21.
Of course there are far more riders than just these three crowd-pullers. In fact Cyclocross has its own field of dedicated stars who race week in week out across the whole season.
Established names such a current World Cup leader Eli Iserbyt, Michael Vanthourenhout, Lars Van de Harr and younger talents like Pim Ronhaar, Joris Nieuwenhuis and the British sensation Cameron Mason all ensure the racing is pulsating from start to finish.
This year the talent runs deeper down the field than ever before and every race has been a classic encounter, so be sure to tune in while you digest your turkey and get your fix of cycling in the mud.
World champion Van der Poel is down to ride all these events as he prepares to defend his rainbow bands and he will go head-to-head with Van Aert and Pidcock on December 23 in Antwerp, on December 26 in Gavere and on December 30 in Hulst.
These are the only three World Cup races where the ‘big three’ as they are called will face each other, however, they will all clash once more on January 4 in the sand dunes of Koksijde at round five of the X2O trophy, one of the other three season long series’.
The most important races on the Cyclocross calendar are the World Cup events and there are six of these left as follows:
- December 23, 2023: Antwerpen (BEL)
- December 26, 2023: Gavere (BEL)
- December 30, 2023: Hulst (NED)
- January 7, 2024: Zonhoven (BEL)
- January 21, 2024: Benidorm (ESP)
- January 28, 2024: Hoogerheide (NED)
The three other big competitions that run right up to the end of February are the Superprestige series, the Exact Cross and the X2O Series on the following dates:
The Telenet Superprestige (all BEL)
- December 27, 2023: Round 6 – Heusden-Zolder
- December 28, 2023: Round 7 – Diegem
- February 10, 2024: Round 8 – Middelkerke — Noordzeecross
The Exact Cross series (all BEL)
- December 22, 2023: Round 3 – Exact Cross Mol — Zilvermeercross
- December 29, 2023: Round 4 Exact Cross Loenhout — Azencross
- January 20, 2024: Round 5 – Exact Cross Zonnebeke — Kasteelcross
- February 7, 2024: Round 6 – Exact Cross Maldegem — Parkcross
- February 17, 2024: Round 7 – Exact Cross Sint-Niklaas — Waaslandcross
The X2O Series (all BEL)
- January 1, 2024: X2O Round 4 – Trofee Baal — GP Sven Nys
- January 4, 2024: Round 5 – Trofee Koksijde — Vlaamse Duinencross
- January 27, 2024: Round 6 – Trofee Hamme — Flandriencross
- February 11, 2024: Round 7 – Trofee Lille — Krawatencross
- February 18, 2024: Round 8 – Trofee Brussels — Brussels Universities Cyclocross
World Championships
- February 2, 2024: Tábor, Czech Republic
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