Zdenek Stybar attacked hard midway through the men's 2011 cyclocross World Championships in St Wendel, Germany, and was never seen again. Lone chaser Sven Nys settled for silver. Kevin Pauwels received the bronze medal, after successfully escaping the four-man move he was in close to the finish. Local hero Philipp Walsleben rode one of the best races in his young career and ended in fifth place, behind Frenchman Francis Mourey, who brought himself back into the mix in the final lap. Niels Albert was out of contention in lap two, when a flat tire robbed him of all chances.
Stybar was able to celebrate early, as he held a consistent 20-second gap over Nys for the final three laps. Stybar went out like a man possessed, his tactics dictated by the presence of the Belgian team. "I was afraid of too big a group. There were too many Belgians - I didn't like that too much," he said in the winner's conference with a smile.
Things got better when he was alone with Nys, a situation he could live with. Then came a crucial bike change for the Czech rider. "Nys let me go to the front. It wasn't planned." But the attack he put in turned out to be a good one. He quickly built a 20-second lead, which he held all the way to the finish. "Unfortunately - well, for me it was fortunately - I didn't see him anymore."
When Nys and Stybar took off halfway through the race, the spectators started taking note of the chase group, which contained Belgians Klaas Vantornout and Kevin Pauwels, plus German Philipp Walsleben. The Belgium-resident put in a very strong ride, pushed along by the crowd of his native Germany. "The cheering by the fans gave me a good feeling."
He admitted that he still has a lot to learn. "There were some tactical situations that I never had been in before, so there is definitely a learning curve for me." During his second pro season, the tactics were very simple in most races. "I had a bad start and all I had to try to do was put the head down and get to the front."
Today he found himself sandwiched between two Belgians, with one of their teammates up the road. "I had to ride hard to have a chance for a podium, but obviously I couldn't just kill myself."
The others certainly took note of the German, for example bronze medalist Pauwels. "Walsleben was very strong today, maybe it was his best race of the season."
Nys was not surprised about Walsleben's strong performance. In World Cup courses on similar tracks he was already up there. Today he was very motivated with the home crowd. He was already U23 world champion and one day in the future he can be the men's elite world champion."
Near-perfect condition for the men's race
The men's race was held in near-perfect condition, with the sun out and the track softer than it was for the women's race. Yet, it was not too muddy and the race started out very fast. Stybar was responsible for that, as he tried to split up the Belgian team early. In the first couple of laps the Belgians were hanging tough, but eventually, Stybar's attacks whittled down the field.
One rider not affected by the attack was Niels Albert. He had a flat tire early on and that was the race for him. Bravely, he refused to surrender, eventually finishing 24th, four and a half minutes behind.
Nys was with Stybar, as well as Walsleben, who was cheered on every meter during the 2.8-kilometer long course. Walsleben had to settle for the second group eventually, leaving Nys and Stybar alone on the front. The Czech rider used a bike change and some hesitation by Nys to put a few meters between the two. Nys also looked like he was at his maximum at this point.
With three laps to go, Stybar held a 20-second gap over Nys. The chase group of Pauwels, Vantornout, Walsleben and, occasionally, the Italian Marco Fontana, was already a minute and a half behind. They would come back to within a minute, but never closer than that.
Walsleben tried to shake off the Belgians, but to no avail. In the end, he tried to recover, but the slowing brought Frenchman Francis Mourey back in the mix. Pauwels was afraid of the Frenchman in the sprint and attacked hard, putting a good gap in betweent them.
American Jomathan Page remained near the front of the race for the first two laps, but during lap three had some problems that lost him a lot of ground. He worked hard to move up and eventually finished 12th, two minutes back. Page's teammate Jeremy Powers got off to a tough start and fought his way forward to finish it 16th place.
Results
1 . Zdenek Stybar (Cze) in 1h06'37
2. Sven Nys at 0'18
3. Kevin Pauwels 1'15
4. Francis Mourey (Fra) 1'16
5. Philipp Walsleben (Ger) 1'18
6. Klaas Vantornout 1'23
7. Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) 1'51
8. Bart Wellens 2'01
9. Christian Heule (Sui) 2'03
10. Tom Meeusen s.t.
11. Gerben de Knegt (Ned)
12. Jonathan Page (USA) 2'04
13. John Gadret (Fra) 2'14
14. Petr Dlask (CZE) 2'16
15. Steve Chainel (Fra) 2'32
16. Jeremy Powers (USA) 2'35