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

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Daniel Ostanek is production editor at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired as staff writer. Prior to joining the team, he had written for most major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly, Rouleur, and CyclingTips.
Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France and the spring Classics, and has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.
As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Daniel also runs The Leadout newsletter and oversees How to Watch guides throughout the season. His favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal, and he rides a Colnago C40.
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