The Plage Cross is raced at the Domein Hofstade, a recreation park between Mechelen and Brussels whose lake has a sandy beach known as De Plage. Cyclocross first came here in 2001 as the Kersttrofee Hofstade, a Christmas-period race that was a round of the UCI World Cup from 2004 to 2007. The circuit is flat, so the beach and the sandy ground around the lake decide it, and technique in the soft sections counts as much as power. Sven Nys won four times, and Erwin Vervecken won the 2006 World Cup round as reigning world champion. After seventeen years away, it returned in December 2025 in front of more than 17,000 spectators, and Mathieu van der Poel needed a single acceleration in the sand to ride clear and beat Wout van Aert by 48 seconds. It has taken its place again among the sand races of Christmas week.