The final round of the 2021 X²0 Badkamers Trofee cyclocross series takes place Sunday, February 14 at Brussels Universities.
Unlike some other classic courses which have run around the same dates for decades, this is a relatively new event, having only had two previous editions. On both prior occasions, Mathieu van der Poel and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado were the winners.
The 2021 edition has been moved to Valentine's Day, and will be held without spectators under the theme "spread love, not disease."
2021 X²0 Badkamers Trofee Standings
The overall X²0 Badkamers Trofee title is awarded based on total time (not on points as in most other series.) Entering the final round, Eli Iserbyt leads Toon Aerts by more than 3 minutes. Barring a complete DNF or other disaster, he should be able to clinch the overall title.
On the Elite women's side, things are much tighter, with Lucinda Brand clinging to a 41 second lead over Denise Betsema. Brand is wearing her new rainbow stripes, but Betsema won the final round of the competing Superprestige series just a week ago. Brand can put the final stamp on her dominance of the 2020/21 season with a win - she would then own the World Championship, World Cup, Superprestige, and X²0 Badkamers titles all at the same time.
2021 Brussels Universities live stream
For USA fans, GCN Race Pass (re-named GCN+ as of February, 2021) has the broadcast and live-streaming rights.
The Brussels Universities race concludes GCN's coverage of the X²0 Badkamers series for 2021, although their cyclocross coverage continues for a bit more, with an Ethias Cross (secondary series) on February 20th before switching gears to road cycling in March.
For cyclocross fans, the showpiece of GCN's road coverage is clearly the Strade Bianche, the "gravel classic" that is quickly becoming a favorite race. It was won in 2020 by Wout van Aert. Save the date, March 6, 2021 to see a few cyclocross stars in action on the road bikes.