The elite men’s HG Cross Heerderstrand race takes place on Saturday 24 October 2026, with a scheduled start of 15:00 CEST, or 14:00 BST in the UK. The Dutch television schedule lists an HBO Max stream from 14:57 CEST, three minutes before the start, with Dutch Eurosport and Belgian VRT/Sporza coverage also advertised. In Britain, HBO Max carries TNT Sports streaming, but the appearance of a race in a continental schedule does not by itself confirm every UK subscription or linear channel.
Joris Nieuwenhuis returns as defending champion after beating Pim Ronhaar and Yordi Corsus in the 2025 race. Niels Vandeputte, who won at Heerderstrand in 2023, is another early name to watch. These riders face a course that is distinctive for coarse sand, short accelerations and sections where running efficiently can be quicker than staying on the bike. It is an interesting test of form ahead of Sunday’s opening Superprestige round at Overijse.
Heerde is the third HG Cross event this autumn, following races at Dendermonde and Meulebeke. The HG Cross umbrella brings together individual cyclocross events, rather than a single season-long standings competition. The field and route can still change before Saturday, and the exact final start list should be checked closer to the event.
Men’s start time and television schedule for Saturday
The elite men are due to start at 14:00 BST. The advertised HBO Max live session begins at 13:57 BST, based on a Dutch listing of 14:57 CEST. Belgian VRT coverage is scheduled as part of its Saturday cycling programme, and Dutch Eurosport 1 is listed around 14:55 local time. Those are territorial programme details rather than proof of the same channels being available in the UK.
The elite women start earlier, at 13:45 CEST or 12:45 BST, with the men following 75 minutes later. That separation gives viewers a chance to watch both races, with an opportunity to see how the sand has developed after the women finish. The organisers also stage junior men at 12:30 CEST. Coverage windows may run before and after individual races, so viewers should rely on the event’s start time rather than the beginning of a broader television programme.
Saturday is still on summer time in Britain and the Netherlands. Both countries move their clocks back in the early hours of Sunday 25 October. For the Heerderstrand races, Dutch time is one hour ahead of British time, not two. An online article showing a GMT conversion for Saturday risks sending UK viewers to a stream an hour too early.
How to stream HG Cross Heerde in Britain
TNT Sports moved its UK streaming operation from discovery+ to HBO Max on 26 March 2026. Subscribers normally need an HBO Max account that includes the TNT Sports plan or a linked subscription through a television or broadband provider. The standard entertainment tiers are not interchangeable with the sports package. Customers who previously watched on discovery+ should use HBO Max with the login or activation arrangement provided by their subscription service.
Look under the HBO Max cycling or live-sport listings for ‘HG Cross’, ‘Heerderstrand’ or ‘Heerde’. The Dutch schedule has a separate listing for the elite men starting shortly before 15:00 CEST. Whether that same event tile is available in the UK depends on the local rights and the platform’s event catalogue. There is no verified live numbered TNT Sports television channel for this specific session, so it would be misleading to promise TNT Sports 1, 2, 3 or 4.
Outside Britain, the organisers advertise Sporza and Eurosport as their television partners. Belgian VRT provides race coverage, while Dutch Eurosport 1 and HBO Max include Heerde in their published listings. Viewers travelling or using services in another territory should use the local programme, as a provider’s rights can vary by country even where the programme name looks identical.
For readers following the entire weekend, ProCyclingUK’s 2026–27 cyclocross calendar outlines the sequence of HG Cross, Superprestige and other events. The women’s race preview provides the context for the first elite contest of the afternoon.
Photo Credit: GettyWhy the Heerderstrand course is worth watching closely
The event is staged beside the Heerderstrand recreational lake in Gelderland, close to Heerde and the A50 motorway. The course uses the sandy terrain around the water together with stretches of grass and firm paths. It does not depend on one long climb for the selection. Instead, riders are forced to change pace continually as the surface alternates between fast and slow.
Loose sand makes positioning particularly important. The leader entering an obstacle can choose whether to ride or run, whereas the next rider may be forced to follow a poor line or react to a sudden dismount. The difference on any single stretch may be only a few metres, but the rider behind then has to accelerate hard out of the corner to regain contact.
Running can be a deliberate tactical choice rather than evidence that somebody has made a mistake. If the surface is too coarse for the bike to keep rolling efficiently, dismounting early may preserve speed and reduce the physical cost of fighting for traction. A clean remount on the firm ground is essential. Once a competitor has lost momentum through one failed attempt to clip in, the next technical turn arrives almost immediately.
The 2026 course layout and weather will determine exactly which obstacles matter most. Do not assume a sand section seen in the 2025 video will have the same dimensions this weekend. Nevertheless, the sand around the lake has been the defining feature of recent editions, and viewers should watch the relative positions of the leading riders at each exit rather than focusing entirely on the television clock.
Who is expected to challenge Nieuwenhuis?
Nieuwenhuis won the 2025 Heerderstrand race after his duel with Ronhaar lasted into the closing laps. He has the power to maintain a high tempo on a demanding surface and the confidence to keep pressing when a rival is only a few seconds behind. But he cannot rely on a long, uninterrupted effort here: he will need accurate technical execution on every lap.
Ronhaar has local knowledge and a second-place finish from last season, giving him an obvious incentive to challenge the defending champion. If the Dutchman finds clear air on the first lap, he can concentrate on his own lines through the sand without having to overtake in difficult places. Losing ground through traffic early could force him to chase harder than his main rivals.
Vandeputte’s 2023 Heerde victory makes him a serious third name. He is comfortable in races where repeated accelerations and technical consistency are required, though a strong start will be particularly important if the race becomes single file through the main obstacles. The final start list has not yet been confirmed in full, and other riders may alter the balance of the contest.
There is a useful tactical distinction between an outright attack and a series of tiny gains. A leading rider might make no obvious acceleration but repeatedly exit the sand two bike lengths ahead. A rival forced to close that distance five or six times can arrive at the final laps short of the energy needed for one decisive response. The full men’s Heerde preview looks in more detail at the contenders and the likely points of separation.
Spectator information and the following day’s racing
Entry to the Heerderstrand event is free. Spectators driving to the race should use the designated parking at the MSV-NOV motocross track near Kamperweg, where the listed charge is €15 in cash. A free shuttle takes visitors to the course, and cyclists have separate access via Ossenbergweg. The site opens at 09:00 local time, long before the elite races start.
For a good view of the race, a position where riders exit a sand section onto firm ground may be more revealing than standing beside the finishing straight. It shows who is gaining time through technique and who has to accelerate repeatedly to remain in contact. Watching the women’s race first also gives spectators an indication of the way the tracks have evolved.
On Sunday the action moves to Overijse in Belgium for the opening Telenet Superprestige round. Its hills and technical corners create a different challenge, so the two days make a particularly useful comparison of early-season form. For UK viewers, the key Saturday reminder remains 14:00 BST for the Heerde men, with the listed European stream beginning at approximately 13:57 BST.
