Tulett wins UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships junior title

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British rider takes rainbow jersey ahead of Kopecky and Kamp

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Ben Tulett (Great Britain) wins the junior men's race at the World Championships(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

Ben Tulett (Great Britain) rode to victory on a muddy morning in Valkenburg, making it two wins in a row for Great Britain at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. Tomas Kopecky (Czech Republic) took silver, 22 second back, while Ryan Kamp (Netherlands) took bronze at 30 seconds.

After last year’s British clean sweep in Luxembourg, Tulett - brother to 2017 silver medallist Dan - had a lot to live up to, and was among the leaders from the start of the race.

It was UCI World Cup winner Loris Rouiller of Switzerland who took the initiative at the start, riding on his own up front as others, including World Cup runner-up Kopecky, tested the limits of traction as they got used to the wet mud.

Kopecky soon joined Rouiller in the lead; the pair enjoying a five second-gap at the end of lap one before the swelling chase group recaptured the duo. They looked the strongest in the early exchanges, pulling away on a few occasions while not taking a decisive lead.

An on-foot section towards the end of the second lap provided the impetus for the first real sort-out, with Tullett pulling out a solo lead as the race reached its halfway point. Rouiller lost contact with the whittled-down chase group, which saw Kopecky joined by a trio of Dutch riders.

Tullett looked comfortable with a fifteen-second lead at the beginning of the penultimate lap, though any mistake would blow the race wide open again. Further back Kopecky punched out alone, eating into the gap with a big effort.

The duo were together at the start of the final lap, and the momentum looked to be with the Czech rider as he pushed the pace early, gapping Tullett. American Lane Maher was ten seconds back in third, but under attack from the Dutch trio.

After a cat-and-mouse game among the leaders, Tullett struck out midway through the final lap - a move that immediately looked decisive as Kopecky had no answer. Indeed, he would be forced to go on the defensive against the Dutch surge behind him.

A ten second gap soon opened up for Tullett, and the first year junior duly avoided any mistakes as he soloed across the line to take the first rainbow jersey of the weekend. 

 

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Ben Tulett (Great Britain)0:41:19
2Tomas Kopecky (Czech Republic)0:00:22
3Ryan Kamp (Netherlands)0:00:30
4Tom Lindner (Germany)0:00:34
5Lane Maher (United States Of America)0:00:35
6Pim Ronhaar (Netherlands)0:00:36
7Mees Hendrikx (Netherlands)0:00:48
8Gerben Kuypers (Belgium)0:00:55
9Ryan Cortjens (Belgium)0:00:59
10Thibault Valognes (France)0:01:10
11Luke Verburg (Netherlands)0:01:18
12Benjamin Rivet (France)0:01:31
13Scott Funston (United States Of America)0:01:37
14Jarno Bellens (Belgium)0:01:44
15Witse Meeussen (Belgium)0:01:53
16Loris Rouiller (Switzerland)0:02:08
17Emil Lindgren (Sweden)0:02:23
18Arthur Kluckers (Luxembourg)0:02:24
19Tyler Clark (Canada)Row 18 - Cell 2
20Anthony Courriere (France)0:02:41
21Jakub Schierl (Czech Republic)0:02:47
22Sam Noel (United States Of America)0:02:51
23Niels Vandeputte (Belgium)0:03:00
24Tomáš Ježek (Czech Republic)0:03:02
25Nicolas Kess (Luxembourg)0:03:21
26Filippo Fontana (Italy)0:03:34
27Federico Ceolin (Italy)0:03:48
28Adrian Barros Rodriguez (Spain)0:03:52
29Conor Martin (Canada)0:03:54
30Jakub Toupalík (Czech Republic)0:04:12
31Calder Wood (United States Of America)0:04:15
32Théo Thomas (France)0:04:24
33Sean Flynn (Great Britain)0:04:27
34Jakub Ríman (Czech Republic)0:04:29
35Jenson Young (Great Britain)0:04:32
36Anton Niederbach (Sweden)0:04:33
37Aloïs Charrin (France)0:04:37
38Benjamin Gomez Villafane (United States Of America)0:04:40
39Alvin Tomášek (Czech Republic)0:04:44
40Bart Artz (Netherlands)0:04:46
41Loïc Bettendorff (Luxembourg)0:04:47
42Frederik Raßmann (Germany)0:05:06
43Alex Morton (United States Of America)0:05:10
44Dylan Kerr (Canada)0:05:19
45Koutarou Murakami (Japan)0:05:23
46Felix Stehli (Switzerland)0:05:27
47Balázs Vas (Hungary)0:05:31
48David Westhoff (Germany)0:05:32
49Søren Wærenskjold (Norway)0:05:35
50Ian Millennium (Denmark)0:05:36
51Cédric Pries (Luxembourg)Row 50 - Cell 2
52Thomas Creighton (Ireland)0:05:43
53Pascal Tömke (Germany)0:06:09
54Piotr Krynski (Poland)0:06:10
55Noé Barras (Switzerland)0:06:32
56Tommaso Dalla Valle (Italy)0:06:39
57Adam Mcgarr (Ireland)0:07:09
58Gonzalo Inguanzo Macho (Spain)0:07:25
59Simon Bak (Denmark)0:07:35
60Davide Toneatti (Italy)0:07:44
61Joshua Amos Gudnitz (Denmark)0:07:59
62Paul Mysko (Canada)0:08:01
63Carlos Canal Blanco (Spain)0:08:55
64Hubert Drobek (Poland)0:09:31
65Alfred Thoft Christiansen (Denmark)0:09:38
66Mik Esser (Luxembourg)0:10:03
67Ren Tsumita (Japan)Row 66 - Cell 2
68Alexander Matthews (Australia)Row 67 - Cell 2
69Rémi Premand (Switzerland)Row 68 - Cell 2
70Archie Ryan (Ireland)Row 69 - Cell 2
71Anakin Williams (Australia)Row 70 - Cell 2
72Zach Larsson (Australia)Row 71 - Cell 2
73Piotr Gruszczynski (Poland)Row 72 - Cell 2
DNFLeonardo Cover (Italy)Row 73 - Cell 2
Dani Ostanek
Dani Ostanek
Senior News Writer

Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.

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