The UCI finalized the schedule for the UCI Cyclocross World Cup for the 2022-2023 season on Wednesday at a Management Committee meeting held during the Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia. Three changes have been made to the previously announced schedule, with the round in Dublin, Ireland, scheduled for December 11.

Dublin was originally scheduled to host the World Cup in late 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the city to cancel the event. The first round of the World Cup in Ireland will be held at the Sport Ireland campus in Dublin.

"We are very proud to have Dublin join us this season," said Thomas van den Spiegel, CEO of the Flanders Classic. "We will be able to race in a truly Irish environment, which will give the Dublin round its own identity, just like the Val di Sole and Flamanville races in the 2021-2022 season."

Riders at the 2022 World Championships complained about the length of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup, which was expanded to 16 events last year, compared to nine the year before in a season shortened by the pandemic.

In 2022-2023, the World Cup will consist of 14 rounds, beginning in the United States and continuing through the Czech Republic, with five rounds in Belgium and the Netherlands, the historical center of the discipline. The athletes will then travel to Ireland and Italy before returning to Belgium for the Kerstperiode, and after the New Year, they will race in Belgium, Spain, and France before heading to the World Championships in Vogelheide.

"Hosting rounds in new countries is part of the very important development that the series leading this discipline has undergone in recent years, especially since the start of the partnership between the UCI and the Flanders Classics," said UCI President David Lapartient.

The series will open as scheduled on October 9 at Trek headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin, before moving to Fayetteville, Arkansas, host of the 2022 World Championships, on October 16, and to Tabor, Czech Republic, the following Sunday.

The round originally scheduled for October 30 in Lucfen, Netherlands, has been moved to Maasmechelen, Belgium, and the World Cup in Dendemonde, scheduled for December 26, has been moved to Gävle, where the Super Prestige was scheduled to take place on December 3.

"We had to find alternatives to Lucfen and Dendemonde. With Maasmechelen, we now have the addition of the Belgian round, which we are really looking forward to." And finally, racing in Gavere on Boxing Day adds a true cyclocross classic to the agenda for the UCI Cyclocross World Cup next winter."

London was widely expected to host the World Cup this season, but was not chosen. Van den Spiegel said, "Not only do we hope to build a long-term relationship in Dublin, but in the meantime we will continue working to add London to our schedule for the 2023-24 season."