Elite men
He’s Belgian, he’s the current king of ’cross, and he’s the massive favorite to win Sunday’s elite men’s title at the 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium. All that being said, Sven Nys is a long way from pulling on the rainbow jersey Sunday afternoon. Apart from the course-related challenges, for which Nys is perhaps better suited than any other rider, a cadre of hungry Belgian countrymen and a few interlopers will be doing their utmost to keep him off the top step of the podium.

Nys has chalked up an impressive season in 2006-07, winning two-dozen races and the overall World Cup title. But despite his dominance, Nys’s rivals can take heart in knowing that bad luck and big mistakes have plagued him at most of his world-championship races. Indeed, for all his brilliance Nys has only won one elite world title while countrymen Bart Wellens and Erwin Vervecken have two each. Wellens and Vervecken are the obvious choices as chief rivals for Nys on Sunday. But while Wellens may have the better form at the moment, Vervecken goes exceptionally well in heavy mud, the likely course characteristic for the weekend.

Also excelling in the rough stuff is Czech big man Petr Dlask, who finished second to Nys in the nearly apocalyptic conditions at the final World Cup in Hoogerheide. Italian champion Enrico Franzoi also went well in Hoogerheide, coming from as far back as 30th to get on the podium with fourth. Although he is known on the road as a man for the mountains, France’s John Gadret has proved himself equally adept at slogging through the boggy Belgian courses.

Americans Jonathan Page and Ryan Trebon made history last weekend as both finished in the top 10 at the Hoogerheide World Cup, the first time two Americans have placed so high. Page finished 10th at the world’s last year, the best-ever placing by an American elite male, and it’s within the realm of possibility that one of the two could find a spot in the top five given a perfect ride.

Hot favorite: Sven Nys (Belgium)
Main challengers: Bart Wellens and Erwin Vervecken (Belgium)
Outsiders: Petr Dlask (Czech Republic), Enrico Franzoi (Italy), John Gadret and Francis Mourey (France), Richard Groenendaal and Gerben de Knegt (Netherlands), Klaas Vantornout and Sven Vantourenhout (Belgium), Jonathan Page and Ryan Trebon (USA)

Elite women
It seems a fool’s errand to bet against Marianne Vos in anything these days. In the past 12 months the 19-year-old Dutchwoman has won both the road and cyclo-cross elite world championships ahead of her much more decorated, and much more senior, rivals. But Vos’s weapon of choice is speed and there will be hardly any of that this weekend. So with Vos’s chief skill out of the picture the tables will certainly tilt in the direction of Germany’s three-time world champion Hanka Kupfernagel.

Kupfernagel notched a popular world’s win two years ago on a treacherously slippery course in St. Wendel, Germany. With power to burn, her skill set suits the Hooglede-Gits course to a T. But should the course deteriorate to the point where running becomes a main component of each lap, elfin Dutch ‘cross specialist Daphny Van Den Brandt could well sneak past both Vos and Kupfernagel. Van Den Brandt won last year’s World Cup run on the Hooglede-Gits course and her small frame could keep her from sinking into the soft mud while bigger riders flounder.

A week after her first World Cup and her first exposure to European racing, U.S. national champion Katie Compton is fully acclimated to the time zone, climate and Belgian mud. This world championship will almost certainly go to a powerful rider and Compton has proven time and again that she has power to burn. If she can stay with the top women through the first couple laps and ride a mistake-free race there’s absolutely no reason Compton could not find herself on the podium.

Hot favorite: Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany)
Main challengers: Marianne Vos and Daphne Van Den Brandt (Netherlands), Laurence Leboucher (France)
Outsiders: Katie Compton (USA), Helen Wyman (Great Britain), Maryline Salvetat (France)

U-23 men
The crowds may be smaller on Saturday, but those who do turn out to watch the under-23 race could well witness the hardest-fought competition of the weekend. With two-time defending U-23 champ Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic) on hand to try for a history-making third consecutive title, pre-race favorites Lars Boom (Netherlands) and Nils Albert (Belgium) will pull no punches in trying to beat each other and Stybar.

Well known for a mutual antipathy that dates back to their junior days, Albert and Boom have brought elite-level speed and strength to the U-23 ranks. Boom won the elite nationals in Holland and Albert won the elite race at the famously difficult Louenhout course. But with Boom starting his ‘cross season late, the two have raced each other only a couple times, with Boom taking the most recent meeting at the Hoogerheide World Cup, but only on the final lap. The riders are so evenly matched that the winner will almost surely be he who suffers the least misfortune. Not to be forgotten, Stybar spent two weeks training in Spain as the final preparation for his third and final U-23 world championship. Where Stybar may lag behind Boom and Albert in physical tools he has a proven track record of turning in great performances when it matters most.

Hot favorites: Lars Boom (Netherlands), Nils Albert (Belgium)
Main challenger: Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic)

Junior men
The junior race often plays out like nothing less than a crapshoot. It’s tough enough to predict anything a 17-year-old might do, and racing in mud with big pressure only multiplies the unknowns. That said, Belgian Jeori Adams won two of the five junior World Cups this season, and cheered on by a massive partisan crowd he seems a likely choice for gold. In with a real shot for a high placing is Coloradan Danny Summerhill. The two-time U.S. junior national champion has already proven he can make European podiums and his fast start will suit him well on a course where avoiding the chaos caused by other riders could make a big difference.

Favorite: Joeri Adams (Belgium)
Main challengers: Jiri Polencki (Czech Republic), Tomas Girard (France)
Outsiders: Danny Summerhill (USA), Vincent Baestens and Jim Aernouts (Belgium)