Stybar, Van Gilder top UCI 'cross rankings

Zdenek Stybar and Laura Van Gilder top the UCI's latest cyclo-cross rankings, published today, while the United States remains in the lead on the nations rankings for both elite men and women.

World champion and current World Cup leader Zdenek Stybar (Telenet-Fidea) extended his lead in the UCI 'cross rankings with a victory in Sunday's World Cup race on home soil in Plzen, Czech Republic. The 24-year-old Czech earned 200 points for his win in the heavily weighted World Cup rounds, as he remained undefeated in seven races thus far this season.

American Jeremy Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) remained in second place, earning points on both days of racing Stateside in Kentucky's USGP of Cyclo-cross Derby City Cup, but now trails Stybar by 203 points. His third place finish on Saturday and victory on Sunday were worth 80 points in total at the respective C1 and C2 events.

While American 'cross racers took advantage of an abundance of UCI-ranked races early in the season to populate the upper end of the rankings, the Europeans are beginning to close the gap with their steady diet of World Cup and C1 events to compete in. Francis Mourey (FDJ) finished fourth in the Czech-hosted World Cup on Sunday and moved into third overall on the rankings, bumping US champion Tim Johnson into fourth.

Belgians Kevin Pauwels (Telenet-Fidea) and Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus), second and third respectively in Plzen, each moved up three spots to occupy fifth and sixth in the standings.

In the women's rankings, former number one Katie Compton (Planet Bike) took a weekend off from competition following her victory in the opening World Cup round in Aigle, Switzerland and as a result dropped from first to third. Fellow American Laura Van Gilder (C3 - Athletes Serving Athletes) now leads the standings with 410 points.

Unlike the men, in which 270 points separate first and fifth overall, the top five women are tightly clustered with only a 30-point differential. This is largely due to the fact that the men can only count their top five results at the C2 level and top six at the C1, while the women get to keep their top 12 results at the non-World Cup level.

The three women occupying second through fourth are all tied at 400 points: Sanne van Paassen (BrainWash), Katie Compton (Planet Bike) and Katerina Nash (Luna Pro Team). Van Paassen jumped from fifth to second on the standings following her first-ever World Cup victory on Sunday in Plzen, Czech Republic while Katerina Nash finished on the podium in third place.

Dutch champion Daphny van den Brand (ZZPR.nl-Destil), runner-up in Sunday's World Cup, occupies fifth on the rankings with 380 points.

The United States tops the nations rankings, based on the points totals of a nation's top three riders, for both elite men and women. Belgium, however, has closed the gap significantly in the men's nations rankings, moving into second place only 85 points back. The Czech Republic lies in third, trailing the US by 168 points.

The Netherlands remains in second place in the women's nations rankings, but closed the gap to trail by 100 points, having trailed the US by 458 points in the first ranking of the season. The Czech Republic remains in third overall, 345 points behind the United States.