Scheldecross Antwerpen is either the perfect opener or a race killer.

With grass and sand, current and former world champs in both the elite men’s and women’s races, and a sudden dump of rain and snow in Belgium, this weekend promises chaos and entertainment.

There’s a World Cup the next day, and the course conditions — typically fast — are up in the air.

But what can we really look forward to at Scheldecross Antwerpen?

1. Vos. Is. Back.

The multiple-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist is once again starting her season with Sheldecross — she did the same last year before heading to Zolder and stomping the field from a last-row start spot. This Saturday will be a preview for Sunday: Is Vos still Boss?

Signs point to “yes,” but anything can happen.

2. No American Men Will Be Racing

Because the race comes the day ahead of the Namur World Cup — a technical, tricky race along the hills surrounding the Citadel of Namur — most Americans opted out of this race. Only Compton chose to participate, primarily because of her current No. 1 ranking in the DVV series. Stephen Hyde was originally going to be starting the race, but has opted to skip it in favor of the Namur pre-ride and course inspection.

The weather also played a roll. Because most Americans only travel to Europe with two bikes and few spare parts, adding another race to a busy weekend means more work for mechanics. With the potential mud and sand combination — combined with a run on brake pads that has made it almost impossible to replace them — wrecking a bike on Saturday could be deadly for Sunday’s typically muddy race.

3. Katie Compton On Scheldecross Versus Namur

Compton has made winning the DVV series a cornerstone of her season, and she’ll come to the start line at Scheldecross looking to take another win.

"The race is usually a fast one with half the course being on the edge of the Schelde and in the sand and the other half on grass, which might be pretty muddy,” Compton says. "We got a lot of snow earlier in the week and there’s more rain in the forecast, so it may be another tough muddy race with sand to make it more challenging.

“The racing will be exciting and hard and very different from Saturday to Namur on Sunday, which will be hilly and muddy. I’m taking one race at a time but hoping to have better legs for Antwerp. I don’t mind racing both days over a weekend because sometimes I feel better on day two. Namur is so hard so I’ll reserve thinking about that suffering till I have to."

4. Van der Poel Is The Man To Beat

The young racer has been unstoppable this year, even taking the third win in Overijse last weekend — a victory that guaranteed him a $12,500 payout on top of his bonuses and race day winnings. He has the uncanny ability to turn up the volume on the last laps of races and shed any competition that was able to ride his wheel until that point, so expect a late race move if he’s not solo early on. (He also won Scheldecross last year, so we could see a repeat.)

5. Katerina Nash Is Recovered And Ready

Like Vos, Nash is well-recovered after a few weeks off, and also like Vos, she’s opting to race Scheldecross as a tune-up for Namur World Cup on Sunday.

"I'm excited to get a couple races per weekend,” she says. “I haven't raced since Zeven — apart from group ride racing — so Scheldecross will be a good warmup before Namur. I raced it last year and look forward to returning there.”

Like Vos and Compton, she’s raced at Namur enough times that skipping a pre-ride won’t cost her valuable course inspection data (and her teammate Eva Lechner will be pre-riding at Namur, so can provide valuable intel).

6. It’s A Different Kind Of Racing

The race this weekend isn’t just about Saturday — there will be a huge focus on Sunday, so don’t be surprised if some of your favorite racers are dropping out midway through because of minor mishaps and mechanicals in order to not stress their systems more than necessary before Sunday. Even Van der Poel, who’s also leading the World Cup, will be racing more cautiously in order to preserve legs for Sunday.

By Molly Hurford; Images by Balint Hamvas - Cyclephotos