Belgium's Christmas series or Kerstperiode got underway last weekend with Waaslandcross and an epically wet and cold Namur World Cup. While some racers may still be licking their wounds from Namur, the Kerstperiode racing will resume on Thursday December 26th. 

You can go back and watch Waaslandcross here, and Canadian subscribers can view the replay of Namur here.

Join Pro to watch the Christmas Series live and on-demand.

Thursday, Dec. 26th - Telenet UCI Cyclocross World Cup Heusden-Zolder

The seventh round of the 2019 - 2020 Telenet Cyclocross World Cup will take place in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium the day after Christmas. The previous round of the World Cup in Namur saw a reshuffling in the overall standings.

Eli Iserbyt, the leader of the World Cup was forced to abandon the race due to hypothermic-like symptoms. Toon Aerts, winner of the 2018 - 2019 World Cup reclaimed the lead in the standings following Iserbyt's withdrawal. 

Aerts however finished the race with a fractured rib, from a hard crash on the final descent of the race. As a result, Aerts' participation at Heusden-Zolder is currently unconfirmed.

Friday, Dec. 27th - DVV Trofee Azencross (Loenhout)

The fifth round of the DVV series returns to Loenhout, Belgium this Friday, and the big headline is Wout Van Aert's return to competition.

Van Aert has not competed since crashing out of the Tour de France's stage 13 time trial and has thoroughly downplayed any expectations for results, citing his training plan which has only allowed for two cyclocross specific trainings in the forest prior to Friday's race. 

Whether or not the former world champion will feature in the front of affairs this season, fans around the world will be happy to see van Aert return to competition. 

Van Aert's long-time rival Mathieu van der Poel will continue to pursue the overall title in the DVV series on Friday. However, his ambitions to win the series took a blow during the previous round in Ronse. He currently sits in fifth place, 4 minutes and 24 seconds down on Eli Iserbyt.

Annemarie Worst leads the women's standings by 56 seconds ahead of Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado.