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The stars keep falling in the lead-up to the 2022 Fayetteville Cyclocross World Championships.

Annemarie Worst will not be making the trip to Arkansas.

The Dutch cyclocross star and former U23 World Champ has tested positive for COVID-19.

Worst finished second in the 2021 UCI Cyclocross World Championships behind Lucinda Brand.

Worst joins Belgians Quinten Hermans and Xaydée Van Sinaeyas on the list of European racers forced to miss the biggest race of the season due to COVID-19.

The race will already be missing Mathieu van der Poel due to injury and Wout van Aert as he focuses on the road season.

2021 Worlds bronze medalist Denise Betsema will also miss Fayetteville due to illness but has not tested positive for COVID-19.

The list of racers dropping out of Worlds could grow as teams riders take COVID-19 tests before making the trip to the States.

Missing star power does not equate to boring racing however, as we saw last weekend at the Hoogerheide World Cup and at Flandriendcross.

Stay tuned.