The UCI has released its 2024-2025 Cyclocross World Cup calendar with significant changes, including a much later start date of November 24 for the first round and the elimination of the round in the United States, which had been a fixture early in the season since the first World Cup round in Las Vegas in 2015 The new schedule includes the following changes.

The 2024-2025 calendar includes events in Dublin, Besançon, and Benidorm, as well as a new round in Oristano, Sardinia, replacing the snowy Val di Sole event. All four of these events have been given "protected status" and the UCI may refuse registration for races that take place on the day of or the day before a World Cup round with protected status.

The UCI introduced this new rule in February to allow top riders to focus on the World Cup rather than other lucrative series events such as Superprestige, X2O Trophy, Exacto Cross, Belgian Hexia Cross, Coupe de France and USPCX. introduced.

Since the UCI expanded the World Cup calendar from nine to a maximum of 15 races in 2021-2022, riders have resisted competing in a full World Cup series.

Seirin del Carmen Alvarado and Eli Izabito won the overall UCI Cyclocross World Cup in 2023-2024 despite only three and two wins, respectively. Alvarado competed in 12 of the 14 races, while Yzerbito was the only rider to compete in every event.

At the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships, Lars van der Haar was the first to publicly criticize the expansion of the calendar, telling Cyclingnews that 14 races were "still too many World Cups, 10 is enough. I think that would make the World Cup more attractive. I think next year it will be 14. I think some riders, and me too, will skip some races."

Riders are now skipping rounds. Last November, UCI President David Lapartient reacted to Tibau Nys' decision to skip the Dendermonde round and compete in the Superprestige round the following day.

"If a rider wants to compete in a national event during the World Cup round, he will not be able to compete in the next World Cup round and therefore not in the World Championships," Lapartiento threatened.

"The World Cup is not a competition where you can choose whatever you want. All riders must compete."

The UCI did not follow through on its threat to exclude riders from the World Championships, but instead allowed UCI-registered teams to send at least one rider in the elite category to five World Cup rounds, and UCI pro cyclo-cross teams to send all World Cup rounds, and UCI pro cyclo-cross teams were required to send three riders to all World Cup rounds.

The creation of "protected status" for the December 1 round in Dublin, the December 8 race in Sardinia, and the January 19 event in Benidorm may not have a significant impact on the National Series events, but the December 29 protected round in Besançon will take place during the "kerstperiode" of the popular Belgian race.

The long-standing Superprestige Diegem and Lowenhout's Azencross are usually held on the same day, which could result in registration being denied by the UCI.

Also, the lack of a World Cup in North America is a major handicap for American and Canadian riders who rely on the races to earn the UCI points needed for grid positions in series races and world championships.