Stybar ashamed of Essen 'cross results

Things are going from bad to worse for Zdenek Stybar.  The cyclo-cross World champion finished14th in Saturday's GVA Trofee race in Essen, Belgium, nearly three and a half minutes behind winner Bart Wellens.

“Shamed about my race today, before so many supporters. I'm sorry for them. I have no explanation about my results:( “ he tweeted.

He recently attended the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team meetings and presentation but skipped the team-building in favour of training on Mallorca and working on his fitness.  “I hope we’ve now found a good balance. I’m not expecting miracles, but I do hope that I’ll race with a better feel. Actually, it couldn’t get much worse...” he wrote on his website last week. He has put the blame on his full road season in 2010.

It didn't work out, though. He got the fastest start on Saturday and was up with the leaders until not only falling out of the lead but falling further and further back.

“Mentally it was really tough today,” he said, according to his website. “It's been a long time since I've thought about quitting. The fans kept me in the race. I have to thank them for their support.

“I love cycling in this area,” he continued. “I have a lot of fans here. As far as the race goes: I'm going to forget about it as quickly as possible. I have to keep believing that there's nothing wrong and that I just keep having a bad day. Right?”

Stybar will try his luck again on Sunday at the World Cup race in Namur.