The men’s HG Cross Meulebeke takes place on Saturday 17 October 2026, with the elite race starting at 14:00 BST (15:00 Belgian time). UK viewers can watch live via TNT Sports streaming on HBO Max, which lists coverage from around 13:57 BST to 15:20 BST. The event is also known as the Berencross and takes place at the Ter Borcht sports complex in West Flanders.
Michael Vanthourenhout goes into Saturday as the first HG Cross winner of the winter, having narrowly beaten teammate Yordi Corsus at Dendermonde. Gerben Kuypers won Thursday’s Kermiscross Ardooie from a five-rider sprint, making the Pauwels Sauzen pairing central to the pre-race discussion. Joran Wyseure, last year’s Meulebeke winner, is among the riders hoping to prevent another win for their team.
The organisers have reversed the direction of the course and removed its large bridge, so the circuit will not be an exact repeat of previous editions. With sand, steps, short climbs and a washboard section still in the lap, this is an event where a small mistake can matter as much as outright speed.
HG Cross Meulebeke men: UK start time and viewing details
Date: Saturday 17 October 2026. Race: elite men, HG Cross Meulebeke / Berencross. Location: Sport- en Recreatiecentrum Ter Borcht, Meulebeke, Belgium. Start: 15:00 CEST, which is 14:00 BST. UK live stream: TNT Sports / HBO Max from approximately 13:57 BST. Listed coverage end: about 15:20 BST. Belgian broadcaster: VRT / Sporza.
Belgium is one hour ahead of Britain in mid-October, and both countries are still observing summer time on the race weekend. The organiser’s 15:00 local start therefore corresponds to 14:00 in the UK. Viewers should select the men’s Berencross programme rather than the women’s race, which starts earlier in the afternoon.
The 13:57 BST live-stream window should begin just before the men’s start. Expect the programme to follow most or all of the race, with a finish around 15:00 BST in ordinary conditions, although the actual duration depends on lap times and the commissaires’ lap count. The published stream end allows some margin for a longer contest and post-finish coverage.
The women’s elite event takes place at 12:45 BST. Anyone planning to watch both can use the gap between races to check how the sand and steps are riding and whether parts of the new lap are already becoming rutted.
Watching in Britain: HBO Max and TNT Sports
The scheduled live coverage is available through HBO Max as part of TNT Sports’ cycling service in the UK. The event may appear under HG Cross Meulebeke, Berencross or the race discipline rather than a television channel name. Search for those terms if the dedicated live tile does not appear in the main sports carousel.
The key distinction is between streaming and linear television. TNT Sports is listed as a UK rightsholder for the race, but that does not mean TNT Sports 1, 2, 3 or 4 will carry it live in its usual television schedule. A later replay may appear on TNT Sports 2. If watching live matters, the dedicated HBO Max stream is the reliable starting point.
Sporza and VRT cover the event in Belgium, with the local men’s programme listed from around 14:45 CEST. Belgian broadcasts can include build-up and rider interviews, but access to the Belgian online player may be restricted outside the country. It is not a guaranteed free alternative for UK viewers.
Check the race listing again before Saturday’s start. Cycling broadcasts can change at short notice because of races overrunning or changes elsewhere on the sporting calendar. A few minutes’ buffer is especially useful for cyclocross, where an attack or an opening-lap traffic jam can influence the result long before the last circuit.
When to join for the most important racing
The recommended viewing time is 13:55 BST, just ahead of the scheduled stream and the elite men’s start. The opening lap should show whether the reversed circuit is difficult to negotiate in a large group and which riders can consistently remain on the bike through the sandpit and short banks.
A 60-minute men’s cyclocross race is often shaped by repeated short accelerations, with the field thinning as riders make small errors or struggle to recover from the technical sections. If you cannot watch from the start, joining around 14:25 BST should normally catch much of the second half, but that is an estimate rather than a set race interval.
The laps at Ter Borcht have a sandpit, a washboard section, steps and short hills, and the order of these obstacles has changed from 2025. That creates several places where a rider may gain a few seconds without an obvious long-range attack. Tracking how a rider negotiates the same feature on consecutive laps is often a better guide to the likely winner than the overall group size at one moment.
A strong rider may briefly stall after dismounting or miss the best line and lose five seconds almost immediately. With the standard of the field, that might be enough to force a sustained chase. Keep an eye on whether the leading teams have more than one rider at the front, because that affects who has to take responsibility when an attack succeeds.
The favourites: Vanthourenhout, Kuypers and Wyseure
Vanthourenhout took Sunday’s HG Cross Dendermonde in 59:20 after opening a gap during the final lap. Corsus was two seconds behind and Wyseure third, with Kuypers fourth on the same margin. That race established a close field and demonstrated the advantage of a late technical acceleration.
Kuypers answered by winning Kermiscross Ardooie on Thursday. He beat Witse Meeussen and Vanthourenhout from a five-rider sprint, with Cameron Mason and Wyseure finishing on the same time. The different endings show how unpredictable the early-season balance is between the strongest Belgian riders.
Wyseure won Meulebeke in 2025 and may be particularly motivated to take advantage of the venue’s changed lap. Yordi Corsus, another Pauwels Sauzen contender, proved his speed at Dendermonde, while Niels Vandeputte and Britain’s Cameron Mason have shown that they can stay close to the winners. Mason’s fourth place in Ardooie was a strong result after finishing eighth at Dendermonde.
Laurens Sweeck appears on the published list, but illness kept him out of Ardooie and his condition remains uncertain. Joris Nieuwenhuis, Felipe Orts and Witse Meeussen add depth to a field that cannot simply be divided into the two leading Pauwels Sauzen riders and everyone else.
What the 2026 course changes mean
The large bridge has gone and the direction of racing has been reversed, so riders must adapt their lines and find new places to overtake. Sand is often easier to ride from the front because a rider can choose a clean line and carry momentum. The short climbs and steps can similarly become congested if competitors dismount at different points.
Vanthourenhout is particularly comfortable with technical races and has several previous victories at Meulebeke, but his teammates have shown enough speed that his experience alone will not decide Saturday’s contest. Kuypers has a strong finishing kick, while Corsus and Wyseure will be keen to make the selection before the line.
If the weather is dry, a larger group may remain in contention and force another fast last lap. Heavy ground would increase the pressure on repeated running and remounting, making it easier to open more substantial gaps. That uncertainty is part of the attraction of watching a modified Ter Borcht course for the first time.
The full men’s preview looks more closely at the likely tactical match-ups. For viewers, the simple plan is to open HBO Max before 13:57 BST, select the men’s HG Cross Meulebeke live session, and be ready for a contest that may be decided by a single clean passage over one of the course’s short obstacles.
