'Except for Vanthourenhout, nobody is at the required level' - Iserbyt tears into men's cyclocross and wants major shake-up until Van Aert returns

Eli Iserbyt may no longer be racing, but he has lost none of his willingness to speak his mind. Ahead of Sunday's Koppenbergcross, a race he won three times during his career, the 29-year-old has taken aim at the riders who have inherited the spotlight in his absence.

Speaking to HLN, Iserbyt made clear that the opening weeks of the cyclocross season have left him deeply unimpressed.

Michael Vanthourenhout has won four of his first five races, but the same cannot be said for the rest of the field. With Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel yet to enter the competition, Iserbyt believes several riders are wasting a rare opportunity to establish themselves.

"Except for Michael [Vanthourenhout], nobody is at the required level," he said.

His assessment was particularly pointed when it came to Niels Vandeputte, who leads the UCI rankings but has yet to take full advantage of the absence of the sport's biggest names.

Iserbyt struggles to understand why the 26-year-old has not started the season more aggressively, especially knowing that victories will become considerably harder to come by once the leading road stars return.

He even questioned whether the current generation has the quality to produce regular winners.

"Maybe it will turn out that this generation in between simply isn't strong enough to become serial winners," he suggested.

While the men's competition has disappointed him, Iserbyt has been far more impressed by the women's field.

He believes the racing has been more competitive and entertaining, pointing to the performances of riders such as Lucinda Brand, Fem van Empel and Marie Schreiber.

"Many women are still paid less than they're worth, and unlike the men, I think the women's races are of a high standard," Iserbyt said. "It's exciting, and they're not afraid to use their elbows."

That difference in quality has led him to propose a significant change to the traditional cyclocross schedule.

Iserbyt believes the women's race deserves the prestigious afternoon slot currently reserved for the men's elite race.

"It would actually make more sense for the women to start at 3pm and the men at 1pm."

The idea has been tested before. Iserbyt recalled a previous experiment in Iowa, where the women's race followed the men's competition. On that occasion, however, around 80 percent of spectators reportedly left once the men had finished.

He wonders whether the same would happen today, particularly given the current strength of women's cyclocross.

For Iserbyt, it would be an experiment worth repeating, at least until one of the sport's biggest attractions returns.

The arrival of Wout van Aert is the obvious turning point in Iserbyt's proposal.

The Belgian has yet to confirm his cyclocross schedule, having only recently resumed training. "Give me another three weeks to see where my fitness stands," he told HLN. 

The Belgian is expected to race around eight times this winter, with the World Championships in Oostende a potential target. Iserbyt believes Van Aert could return as early as December. "I can definitely see Wout racing in Antwerp on December 19," he said, suggesting the Belgian might even make his comeback earlier in the month.

Following his Paris-Roubaix victory, Iserbyt suspects Visma may be more willing to give Van Aert freedom to race cyclocross.

"Now that he's won Roubaix, perhaps Visma will give him more freedom to race cyclocross more often," Iserbyt suggested.

He also sees no reason why an extended winter programme should negatively affect the Belgian's road ambitions. According to Iserbyt, Van Aert has an exceptional ability to absorb heavy training loads, allowing him to combine endurance work with the intensity of cyclocross.

"There are very few riders whose bodies can handle as much workload as Wout's. He can train for three hours in the morning, race a cyclocross event afterwards and actually become better because of it," he explained.