Road race world champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) will take on a slightly rougher surface in the opening round of the Superprestige cyclo-cross series in Gieten, the Netherlands, on Sunday. Belgium's Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), winner of the opening two World Cup races, will start as the favorite to win the men's race.

Iserbyt won the opening round of the World Cup in Iowa City, USA, last month and was dominant in Waterloo the following weekend, building a commanding lead over Toon Arts (Telenet Baloise Lions), who finished second in both events.

The Belgian champion and defending World Cup champion will be looking for revenge in Gieten on Sunday. Also on the start list is 2008 cyclo-cross world champion Lars Boom (Roompot-Charles), who has focused on the road in recent years but will be a fan favorite in front of his home crowd.

Another rider to watch is current under-23 cyclocross world champion Tom Pidcock (Trinity Racing), who told Cycling News earlier this week that he intends to run his first full season of elite-level cyclocross.

He won the U23 world title earlier this year in Borgense, Denmark, defeating Iserbyt.

Neither Mathieu van der Pol (Corendon-Circus) nor Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) will compete in the series opener. The former is resting up after a long 2018/19 season of cyclocross and road racing, while the latter is still recovering from injuries sustained in a crash in the individual time trial on stage 13 of this year's Tour de France.

Meanwhile, Van Vleuten, who won the World Championships road race in Yorkshire last month in a daring solo breakaway, will be joined in the women's race in Gieten by last year's winner, cyclo-cross European champion Annemarie Worst (Steylaerts-777), and current world champion Sanne Canto (Crelan-IKO), who won three consecutive Gieten rounds of the Super Prestige Series from 2014 to 2016.

The second round of the eight-round Super Prestige Series will take place on Saturday, October 19 in Boom, Belgium, before the World Cup returns to Europe for the third round on October 20 in Bern, Switzerland.