Bike World News

From Dan Seaton at Cyclocross Magazine.

With thousands of fans and several years of anticipation of racing the Cyclocross World Championships in his home country, Zdenek Stybar had plenty of time to feel the pressure of trying to win his first Elite world title in Tabor. “We tried to not talk about the race because there was a lot of pressure from outside…we tried…not think about worlds,” Stybar’s girlfriend revealed. But on an icy, slippery course, with his whole country’s expectations on his shoulders, the World Cup winner quickly showed that he’d be the rider to beat with a fast start and masterful lines that left the rest of the field slipping, literally, while he raced towards the rainbow stripes.

On the first lap, Belgium’s Klaas Vantornout took the holeshot followed by countryman Sven Nys and Stybar. Nys then took up the pacemaking and led an early break trailed by Vantornout, Stybar, Steve Chainel, Radomir Simunek, Francis Mourey, Gerben de Knegt and Bart Aernauts. Vantornout soon hit the front again and opened a small gap, followed by Nys, while Stybar suffered an early flat but had a quick pit exchange and was quickly back with the leaders. Simunek took to the front, working to give his countryman Stybar the chance to rejoin the break.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Page was riding well, sitting inside the top 20 before a pit exchange for a new bike left him adjusting his front wheel while 20 riders passed him by. Tim Johnson was moving up, sitting in 29th, and Jamey Driscoll in 35th, with Ryan Trebon and Jeremy Powers sitting outside the top 40.

Johnson was making great progress on the running sections, passing riders with his newly screw-enhanced shoes. Johnson got the tip from his roommate Luke Keough, who employed the tactic during the U23 race to stay on his feet.

Kevin Pauwels was at the front of the chase working to bring back the break as Simunek and Nys worked to shut down any acceleration by Vantornout. Pauwels and Switzerland’s Christian Heule were able to bridge up to the leader with Stybar and Francis Mourey close behind. Pauwels took a spill coming into the barriers, giving Heule and Vantornout incentive to attack and form a gap. Stybar picked up the chase along with Mourey and Simunek, trailed by Niels Albert and Erwin Vervecken with Chainel and de Knegt behind them.

Coming into the fourth lap, Heule relinquished the lead to Stybar who quickly attacked and established a gap over the chasers. Heule was left to chase with Vantornout on his wheel. Heule didn’t have the power to chase down Stybar but Nys soon joined the group to add some needed horsepower. Nys led the group of four, now including Czech Martin Bina, and took off after Stybar leaping barriers in pursuit of the leader.

Nys would go down in a turn, letting the gap go way out as Vantornout and Bina took up the chase. Simunek and Mourey continued to chase from behind trying to rejoin Vantornout’s group. Nys recovered from his crash and returned to the head of the chase as Mourey was trying to replace Vantornout in the chase group since Vantornout was beginning to fade. Simunek was riding consistently and was still within reach of the group, while Bart Wellens, hoping to prove the merit of his inclusion on the Belgian team, surged to try and break into the top 5.

Nys, Vantornout and Bina continued to chase, but each seemed hesitant to attack. Nys hopped the barriers again to try and form a gap but a bobble soon after left him stuck behind Bina, with Vantornout leaving them behind. Vantornout continued to pour it on to secure second as Nys seemed to come apart, with the earlier effort, pressure, and the conditions forcing him into mistake after mistake.

Nys’ troubles allowed Bina to rejoin him and then attack the Belgian star in the race for the last step on podium. With first and second place virtually decided the excitement was in the race for third. Nys and Bina repeatedly attacked each other but stayed together until the finish. Nys was ble to hold off Bina in a sprint to land on another world’s podium.

Mourey was next across followed by Zlamilik, Heule and Simunek. Gerben de Knegt was ninth and Bart Wellens rounded out the top 10. Erwin Vervecken, racing in his final Worlds before retirement, raced to 16th. Niels Albert, a favorite coming into Tabor, dropped out at the halfway point.

As with the women’s race earlier in the day, it was a good and bad day for the American team. Two Americans in the top 20, with Tim Johnson and Jamey Driscoll in 14th and 19th, respectively, was a highlight. But favorite Jonathan Page suffered an early mechanical that derailed his chances and relegated him to 30th place.

Full Results:

Place Bib Name Country Time

1 14 STYBAR Zdenek CZECH REPUBLIC 1:08:58

2 3 VANTORNOUT Klaas BELGIUM / BELGIQUE +00:21

3 2 NYS Sven BELGIUM / BELGIQUE +00:38

4 16 BINA Martin CZECH REPUBLIC +00:40

5 8 MOUREY Francis FRANCE / FRANCE +00:56

6 17 ZLAMALIK Martin CZECH REPUBLIC +01:02

7 21 HEULE Christian SWITZERLAND / SUISSE +01:07

8 15 SIMUNEK Radomir CZECH REPUBLIC +01:18

9 24 DE KNEGT Gerben NETHERLANDS / PAYS-BAS +01:49

10 7 WELLENS Bart BELGIUM / BELGIQUE +02:13

11 30 FONTANA Marco Aurelio ITALY / ITALIE +02:25

12 10 BAZIN Nicolas FRANCE / FRANCE +02:26

13 9 CHAINEL Steve FRANCE / FRANCE +02:28

14 42 JOHNSON Timothy UNITED STATES OF AMERICA +02:28

15 22 WILDHABER Marcel SWITZERLAND / SUISSE +02:37

16 6 VERVECKEN Erwin BELGIUM / BELGIQUE +02:45

17 26 VAN AMERONGEN Thijs NETHERLANDS / PAYS-BAS +02:47

18 29 BIANCO Marco ITALY / ITALIE +02:54

19 43 DRISCOLL James UNITED STATES OF AMERICA +03:07

20 23 FLÜCKIGER Lukas SWITZERLAND / SUISSE +03:09

21 11 GADRET John FRANCE / FRANCE +03:11

22 35 SUAREZ FERNANDEZ Isaac SPAIN / ESPAGNE +03:13

23 12 COLOMBATTO Laurent FRANCE / FRANCE +03:14

24 54 PFINGSTEN Christoph GERMANY / ALLEMAGNE +03:17

25 4 PAUWELS Kevin BELGIUM / BELGIQUE +03:29

26 36 HERMIDA RAMOS José Antonio SPAIN / ESPAGNE +03:32

27 31 URSI Fabio ITALY / ITALIE +03:34

28 58 DRUCKER Jean-Pierre LUXEMBOURG / LUXEMBOURG +03:42

29 19 AUSBUHER Kamil CZECH REPUBLIC +03:52

30 41 PAGE Jonathan UNITED STATES OF AMERICA +04:05

31 56 PARBO Joachim DENMARK / DANEMARK +04:15

32 25 AL Thijs NETHERLANDS / PAYS-BAS +04:15

33 20 BAMBULA Ondrej CZECH REPUBLIC +04:21

34 57 PRESSLAUER Peter AUSTRIA / AUTRICHE +04:31

35 38 FIELD Ian GREAT BRITAIN / GRANDE-BRETAGNE +04:43

36 46 BARENYI Milan SLOVAKIA / SLOVAQUIE +04:50

37 5 AERNOUTS Bart BELGIUM / BELGIQUE +04:56

38 18 DLASK Petr CZECH REPUBLIC +04:57

39 55 SICKMUELLER Johannes GERMANY / ALLEMAGNE +04:59

40 59 BAUSCH Gusty LUXEMBOURG / LUXEMBOURG +05:00

41 45 POWERS Jeremy UNITED STATES OF AMERICA +05:13

42 40 OLDHAM Paul GREAT BRITAIN / GRANDE-BRETAGNE +05:33

43 27 VAN GILS Wilant NETHERLANDS / PAYS-BAS +06:07

44 39 CRAWFORTH Jody GREAT BRITAIN / GRANDE-BRETAGNE +06:12

45 33 RUIZ DE LARRINAGA IBANEZ Javier SPAIN / ESPAGNE +06:19

46 37 ZABALLA GUTIERREZ Constantino SPAIN / ESPAGNE +06:37

47 32 DAMIANI Luca ITALY / ITALIE +06:48

48 49 METLICKA Vaclav SLOVAKIA / SLOVAQUIE +06:50

49 52 TSUJIURA Keiichi JAPAN / JAPON +07:27

50 44 TREBON Ryan UNITED STATES OF AMERICA +07:37

51 48 HARING Martin SLOVAKIA / SLOVAQUIE +08:39

52 47 GLAJZA Robert SLOVAKIA / SLOVAQUIE -1LAP

53 64 AIKEN Rodger IRELAND / IRLANDE -1LAP

54 60 BURUCZKI Szilard HUNGARY / HONGRIE -1LAP

55 63 BOLDBAATAR Bold-Erdene MONGOLIA / MONGOLIE -3LAP

56 62 ARIUNBOLD Naranbat MONGOLIA / MONGOLIE -4LAP

57 66 PEKATCH Dror ISRAEL / ISRAEL -5LAP

58 61 ANGHELACHE George-Daniel ROMANIA / ROUMANIE -5LAP

1 ALBERT Niels BELGIUM / BELGIQUE DNF7

34 MURGOITIO REKALDE Egoitz SPAIN / ESPAGNE DNF7

50 GIL Mariusz POLAND / POLOGNE DNF6

51 DARVELL Magnus SWEDEN / SUEDE DNF6

28 FRANZOI Enrico ITALY / ITALIE DNF5

13 LABBE Arnaud FRANCE / FRANCE DNF3

53 WALSLEBEN Philipp GERMANY / ALLEMAGNE DNS

65 LAYHE Andrew IRELAND / IRLANDE DNS

Tags: 2010 cyclocross World Championships, 2010 Elite Men's Cyclocross World Championships, cyclocross, Francis Mourey, jamey driscoll, Jonathan Page, Klaas Vantornout, Martin Bina, Niels Albert, Sven Nys, Tim Johnson, World Championships, Zdenek Stybar

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