Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) will face off first in the UCI They will face off first in the Cyclocross World Cup on Boxing Day in Dendermonde.

Other confirmed races are Azencross in Rhoenhout on December 30 and Herentals Crosst, considered the home race of van Aert, on January 5.

Van der Pol announced today a tentative race program, revealing that he will race for the first time on December 18 at the Luxembourg World Cup race in the Netherlands and will travel to the United States to defend his world championship title a month later on January 30 in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Van Houten said, "I am very happy to be here.

Van der Pol's program is focused on earning ranking points in the World Cup races. However, he has also added the December 30 Lone Hout and January 5 X20 races in Hellenthal to his calendar.

Pidcock will also be traveling to the U.S. for the World Championships. Van Aert, who is under increasing pressure to win the rainbow jersey, will delay his road racing debut to cross the Atlantic and race against some of his biggest rivals.

Van Aert and Pidcock will start their cyclocross season at the Superprestige race in Boom on December 4. They will compete in the Antwerp and Val di Sole World Cups in Belgium and Italy, respectively, followed by a dozen races in Europe over the holidays and into January.

None of the big three will challenge for the overall World Cup and Superprestige rankings, giving Eli Iserbyt, Toon Aerts, Lars van der Haar, Laurens Sweck, and Michael Van Tulenhout a chance to shine.

Van Aert, Van der Poel, and Pidcock will have to carefully balance cyclocross racing and training with their respective team training camps and future goals on the road during 2022.

Ineos Grenadiers will be in Majorca from December 7-17, Jumbo-Visma in Girona from December 13-21, and Alpecin-Fenix in Spain from December 1-10. They will also join their teams in camps in January.

"Alpecin-Fenix team manager Christoph Rudhoeft told "Nieuwsblad" magazine, "In view of the team camps, we all have our own competition programs. [Mathieu will not participate in Val di Sole as he will be attending a training camp in Benicassim, Spain, from December 1-10.

Tom Pidcock traveled to Miami over the weekend for a charity ride, but is now back in Europe training hard for the cyclocross season.

"Tom is now set to ride in 13 cyclocross races. That's the program we're considering at the moment. Balance with the road is always an issue," said his directeur sportif and mentor, Kurt Bogerts.