Watts Up With Cyclo-Cross? The Kerstperiode, CX Intervals, And More!
Posted by Andrew Davidson with Michael van den Ham on January 5, 2026
Michael van den Ham, a man with a “van” in his name, was destined to be great at cyclo-cross.
As the gravel racing world settles into its winter slumber, the spotlight shifts to the discipline that birthed the modern off-road wunderkind: cyclo-cross! Dating back to the early 1900s, cyclo-cross was a way for road racers of the time to stay fit and challenge their fitness and bike handling during the winter months by slogging their way around muddy farmers’ fields, lugging bikes up unridable embankments, and generally just looking for ways to get muddy, while enjoying some “type A” fun. Fast forward 125 years, and the sport is alive and well, with its own dedicated professionals, equipment, and fan clubs, while being responsible for fostering some historically great riders, such as Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert.
One of the Canadian faces of the highly entertaining discipline over the past decade or so has been Michael van den Ham, a three-time Canadian national cyclo-cross champion, who flew the flag in Europe’s biggest races for several seasons. As is the case with most North American pros looking to explore their full potential, Mike made the cross-Atlantic commute to compete in World Cups, CX pro events and World Championships throughout his career. Having now transitioned from racer to coach of the Canadian National Cyclo-Cross Team, and as a 4iiii athlete, there’s no better person we could think of to share some insights on the nature of ‘cross when it comes to its demands. Read on to learn more, in Mike’s own words, about the famous “Christmas Period” block of races that unfold during the holiday season, some workouts he recommends to aspiring cx racers, and other hard-earned tips that only someone with his experience can offer up.
A perfectly captured image of all that a true European cyclo-cross race entails.
Training for the Kerstperiode
We hope your holiday break was filled with decorated trees, family, and perhaps a few too many cookies. But while the rest of the world is slowly easing back into their routines, the cyclo-cross world is smack dab in the middle of its most prestigious and demanding block: the Kerstperiode.
While the rest of the cycling world is more or less shut down at the end of December, cyclo-cross is smack dab in the busiest, and perhaps most important, part of its season. The Christmas Period, or Kersteperiode, is part of the fabric of the northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium each year around the holidays. While many of us in North America spent the holidays on the ski hills or skating rinks, Belgian fans were out in force at their local CX races, cheering on the biggest stars in the sport during the most iconic weeks of the year.
So what exactly is cyclo-cross? CX is almost one of those things where you’ll know it when you see it. I’ve heard it described as cross-country running for bikes, steeplechase for bikes, short-format gravel, and just plain weird. To be fair, it’s a little bit of all of those things. By definition, it’s “a fast, off-road bike race on short, closed circuits featuring pavement, grass, mud, and obstacles like barriers and steep hills, requiring riders to dismount and carry their bikes, blending elements of road cycling, mountain biking, and steeplechase” (thanks, Google).
Representing Canada at one of the many Cyclo-Cross World Championships that he lined up for.
In reality, it’s all that—but in Belgium over Christmas, it’s a whole vibe. For fans, it’s crowded dance floors, spilled Jupiler beers, frites and mayo, rider supporter clubs, and parking in muddy fields. For riders, it’s day after day of racing, training on Christmas Day, and a lingering feeling that you might be stuck in some sort of Groundhog Day simulation. For mechanics and staff, it’s gluing tubulars late at night, piecing together bikes after they’ve been raced in the mud and slop yet again, and never quite being warm or dry. In short, it’s the best and worst weeks of bike racing all year.
What Are the Demands of a Race?
So what does it actually take to race cyclo-cross? While the power demands of a ’cross race can change a lot from course to course, one thing remains true across the board: a ’cross race is not a steady-state effort.
I’ve included a screenshot of a TrainingPeaks file to demonstrate just that. Looking at the file, you can see just how many accelerations occurred throughout this race. Doing a rough count, there are about 70 efforts at more than 200% of this athlete’s threshold over the course of 65 minutes of racing. That’s more than one per minute!
Zooming in even more closely, you can see that a single lap of this course required a whopping 10 accelerations above 900W in just under seven minutes—all while averaging 181 BPM. This is where the demands of cyclo-cross are unique: a racer isn’t just asked to make these explosive accelerations, but to do so with minimal recovery while navigating technical terrain at a high heart rate.
While every race is a little different, it’s clear that the effort in a CX race is fundamentally different from a time trial, a criterium, or just about any other cycling discipline.
Training for CX
There are many different elements that go into a cyclo-cross race, but I want to highlight two that I always encourage athletes to focus on before heading to Europe. While the early season often brings dry and fast courses, when I think of the Kerstperiode, the image that comes to mind is riders slogging through heavy mud at courses like Baal and Dendermonde, grinding up the cobbled climb in Namur, or, of course, running with their bikes.
The only real way to get better at racing in Europe is, well, by racing in Europe; however, here are a few workouts I find help ease the transition and offer a taste of what that level of competition feels like.
Navigating muddy ruts while leading a group mid-race - and exercise in power, focus and strategy.
The Workout – Tempo with Variable Cadence and Accelerations
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10–15 minutes of endurance
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5 minutes tempo
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5–15 minutes recovery (get to a good spot to do the workout)
Intervals:
4 × 10 minutes of tempo with 5–10 minutes of endurance between each set. Each tempo interval consists of:
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15 seconds sub-maximal acceleration (≈200% of threshold)
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3 minutes low-cadence tempo (60–70 rpm)
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15 seconds sub-maximal acceleration (≈200% of threshold)
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3 minutes comfortable-cadence tempo (90–110 rpm)
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15 seconds sub-maximal acceleration (≈200% of threshold)
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3 minutes low-cadence tempo (60–70 rpm)
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15 seconds sub-maximal acceleration (≈200% of threshold)
Repeat 4× with 10 minutes of recovery between each set.
- 20–30 minutes of endurance to finish
Dropping into a muddy chute during a lap of the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Bogense, Denmark.
The Workout – CX Run/Ride Intervals
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10–15 minutes endurance
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5 minutes tempo warm-up
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5–15 minutes recovery (get to a good spot to do the workout)
4 × 5-minute intervals: 5-minute VO₂max intervals with 5–10 minutes of recovery between each interval. Each interval consists of:
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1 minute pedalling at VO₂max power
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15 seconds running while maintaining the effort (not sprinting)
Repeat 4× to make a total of 5 minutes per interval.
- Finish the ride with 20–30 minutes of endurance
Notes: Intervals can be done on a climb, a bike path with a grassy shoulder, or in a grassy field (such as around the edges of a soccer field).
For a bike race, there sure can be a lot of running - it’s worth incorporating some regular run workouts.
The Workout – Motorpacing
This one isn’t for everyone, as not everyone has the time or resources to get behind a moto (a 50cc scooter). but if you can swing it, I can tell you it’s a workout some of your favourite CX pros are doing to prepare.
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15–20 minutes of endurance before getting behind the scooter
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45–60 minutes behind a scooter on a rolling (but not hilly) loop
The pace should be easy enough that you can accelerate with the scooter when it turns or goes uphill, but not so hard that you get dropped each time. For CX, the goal is to have lots of hard accelerations to stay with the scooter, so it needs to go slow enough (often in your tempo zone) that you can still make those accelerations when needed.
- 15–20 minutes recovery afterward
So, there you have it! While the peak holiday block may be winding down, the lessons from the Kerstperiode apply to the entire CX season. Whether you’re finishing your own race calendar or sitting on the trainer watching the World Cups, these insights from Mike van den Ham offer a window into the grit required at the sport’s highest level.
Cyclo-cross, a beautiful and incredibly demanding discipline that will sharpen all the skills - and one you should consider giving a try yourself if you haven’t already!
Keep up with Michael van den Ham: Instagram
Check out our training tools that you can use to execute and elevate your cyclo-cross game: 4iiii.
