Ahead of the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships, Tom Pidcock was the only one of the sport's big three to choose to come to the United States for the elite men's race, and he did so with spectacular results on Sunday.

But had organizers followed the rules, the British rider would have had to grab glory from the lower-ranked second row of the grid, as the UCI gives the front row to the top eight riders in the World Cup series, but Pidcock had limited racing this winter, He was 11th on the grid. He was forced to start from the right end of the grid.

Defending champion Mathieu van der Pol was sidelined with a back injury, while Belgian champion Wout van Aert was absent to focus on preparations for the road season. Had they participated, the starting grid would have been even lower, as they are ranked 35th and 17th, respectively, in the World Cup.

"I don't think the World Cup grid should be determined by the World Cup. There is too much bias in the World Cup. Not everyone can play in every World Cup.

That's right, Pidcock was head and shoulders above the rest in the men's race, with Lars Van Der Haar (Netherlands) and Eli Iserbyt (Belgium) dominating the podium. He got off to a slow start but quickly worked his way up the climb, enjoying the race and reveling in his victory. However, he was not satisfied with his starting procedure and the grid.

The new world champion competed in his first World Tour season with Ineos in 2021, and also competed in the mountain bike World Cup in the summer before winning Olympic gold. As a result, he did not start racing cyclocross until December and only raced six rounds of the World Cup, finishing 11th overall; he was seventh in the UCI standings.

The questions about the UCI World Cup hit a nerve with the riders and it seemed a disservice to his fellow podium finishers to have the race favorite chasing them from the second row.

Lars van der Haar (Netherlands) and top American finisher Curtis White, along with Pidcock, expressed disapproval of the UCI's significant expansion of the World Cup from nine events in 2019 to 16 this year (although Antwerp was cancelled)

Pidcock also expressed his disapproval of the UCI's decision to expand the World Cup from nine events in 2019 to 16 this year (Antwerp was cancelled).

Asked about his comments on the busy World Cup schedule early in the season, van der Haar said he still felt it was too much.

"Still too many World Cups; ten is more than enough," van der Haar said.

"I think the World Cup will be more attractive. I think next year it will be 14 times. I think some riders and I will skip some of those races."

Van der Haar agreed that the grid should be based on UCI rankings, but did not want to deny Eli Yzerbitt's victory in the same series. Yzerbito was one of four riders, along with Thun Vandebosch, Kevin Kuhn, and Marcel Meisen, to complete the entire race, winning by 128 points over teammate Michael Van Tulenhout.

"Eli definitely won the World Cup fair and square. If it had been one race or 20 races, he would have won anyway," said van der Haar,

further noting that the size of the series undermined its prestige.

"If you win seven out of 16 races or something, it's the pinnacle of the World Cup. But there is no tension in terms of points. I think that's why many riders thought they wouldn't win at the halfway point of the season and skipped the expedition races to focus on other goals. I think the World Cup deserves more. The World Cup should be a more prestigious overall class."

Even White, who acknowledged that the World Cup is very important to North America, agreed that ping ponging from Waterloo to Fayetteville to Iowa City in one week is too much, especially this year.

"Having the World Cup at home was a big deal for us," White said.

"It helps develop the sport here in North America. But if there's a way to limit it to seven to ten important races around the world, we can further elevate the sport at all levels.

The UCI will announce next year's calendar at its next Steering Committee meeting, which will be held in Montreux from February 10 to 12.

The mix of road and cross is not for everyone, and Van der Haar and Iserbyt focus only on cyclocross, perhaps lacking some of the endurance that riders who have completed a Grand Tour enjoy.

Pidcock said that his road endurance helped him at the beginning of the year, but that it put him at a bit of a disadvantage in last week's World Cup final in Hogelheide, where he lost to Yzerbito.

"Coming into the cross season, I felt that my base was probably higher than it was at the start of last season. I think that gave us a good foundation for our training. But as far as explosiveness, the road is bad."

As Pidcock indicated, the combination of disciplines can be beneficial, but it can also be excessive, as Van der Pol's injury shows. Cross specialists who race throughout the season only dabble in road racing in the off-season.

Iserbitt was asked if he should race more road races in favor of faster races like Sunday's World Championships. The Belgian gave a diplomatic reply.

"It's difficult because in our team we are not allowed to do big races. Maybe we have to train a little harder. I don't know if I'll get better if I run a lot of road races, but it's something to consider. I want to push myself to get better for next season," Iserbitt said.

Van der Haar defended him.

"Mathieu and Wout have beaten road riders, and we have an Olympic mountain bike champion.

When asked if Pidcock would continue to race cross next season, combining disciplines as world champion, he said, "I will continue. I don't know. Next Sunday I will be in Belgium, so maybe I will race."