Stybar triumphs in Plzen

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World champion Zdenek Stybar (Telenet-Fidea) remains king in the cyclo-cross world. In his home country of the Czech Republic, Stybar totally controlled the second round of the World Cup in Plzen and took his seventh successive win of the season on a dry and fast course.

Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) challenged Stybar early on and he led the race with the Czech from the first lap onwards, later being joined by Stybar’s teammate Kevin Pauwels (Telenet-Fidea). The situation in front remained as such until Stybar attacked going into the penultimate lap. Albert blew up on the sloping uphill section at the finish line but teammate Pauwels stood tall. One lap later Stybar steamed through to the finish line on his own when Pauwels punctured at the front. As a result Stybar had all the time in the world to greet the home crowd when he rolled across the finish line, strengthening his lead in the World Cup.

“The section at the finish line was really tough with the headwind. I did special training for that on Friday. I suffered a lot but today it helped me. It was a pity that during the last lap my teammate punctured. Still I decided to go as hard as possible to arrive alone,” Stybar said. He explained that he didn’t want to wait for Pauwels during the final lap as finishing alone as world champion during a World Cup race in his home country was a potentially one-off opportunity.

“Today the crowd was incredible. It was the most enjoyable race for me this season. I would like to thank all fans here in Plzen,” Stybar said. Behind Stybar, Pauwels held on to his second place ahead of Albert on the fast course. A little later French champion Francis Mourey (Française des Jeux) won the sprint for fourth place from Belgian champion Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet).

More than a minute after the winner, it was Belgium’s Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor) who grabbed sixth place ahead of the impressive German youngster Philip Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus) and Bart Aernouts (Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team). Dieter Vanthourenhout (BKCP-Powerplus) and Italian Enrico Franzoi (BKCP-Powerplus) captured the remaining top 10 places a minute and a half down.

The early exchanges

Albert’s strong start was marked by Stybar but behind those two stars it was the unknown German Christoph Pfingsten (Van Vliet EBH Elshof) who led the rest of the pack. After the German, Nys and Dieter Vanthourenhout were the next to follow. Once Stybar took over from Albert, the two created a gap on Pfingsten who was looking for his second breath. By the end of the opening lap Stybar and Albert had seven seconds on Nys, Pfingsten, Dieter Vanthourenhout, Pauwels and Vantornout.

Stybar maintained a high rhythm and Albert struggled to keep up with the world champion. Albert didn’t crack though and eventually Stybar lowered the pace. Behind the leaders Pauwels moved forward. Belgian champion Nys joined Pauwels and during the second lap they had the two leaders in sight. Eventually Nys blew up and only Pauwels could bridge to Albert and Stybar.

On the third lap, Nys dropped back into a chase group with Mourey, Aernouts, Vantornout and later also Dieter Vanthourenhout, about twenty seconds behind the three leaders. The gap between the leaders and the first chasers kept growing throughout the fifth, sixth and seventh laps, making it clear that all three leaders would get on the podium in Plzen. A tactical game was about to unfold with team-mates Stybar and Pauwels having the best cards in their hands.

Going into the tenth of twelve laps the status quo ended when Stybar attacked on the sloping home straight. Surprisingly team-mate Pauwels was the first to react but behind him Albert’s legs blew up. The two team-mates worked together and put Albert at five seconds. Behind the top 3, Nys increased the pace and only Mourey was able to keep up with the Belgian champion. Going into the penultimate lap Albert trailed the leaders by seven seconds; Nys and Mourey followed at 37”. The situation remained the same for one lap but then Pauwels punctured and got dropped when crossing the finish line, although he would do enough to hold off Albert.