Albert is king in Plzen mud

Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) won a muddy and cold edition of the second round of the World Cup in Plzen, in the Czech Republic, finish well clear of Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor), Rob Peeters (Telenet-Fidea) and former World Cup leader Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor).

Peeters was removed from the official result after UCI commissaires spotted an irregular pit stop in the first half of the race. It didn’t matter much to world champion Albert, who looked unbeatable on the slippery course.

“I like this weather, when it’s raining and it’s muddy. Everybody rides on his own and that’s when I’m on my best. Hopefully it’s raining in Belgium too,” Albert said in the post-race interview.

“I’ve won here as a world champion in 2009 and now I win again in this jersey. The corners were really dangerous because you can make a mistake everywhere. You have to pay a lot of attention and use your technique.”

Unlike last years's World Cup race, the TV-camera was gone by the time the start was given but once again Albert wasn’t near the front when the race started. US champion Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) was even worse off, as he hit the deck in the first corner.

Albert managed to bridge up to the all-Belgian seven-man lead group by the end of the first lap. Lars van der Haar (Rabobank-Giant Off-road) – the revelation of the first World Cup round – rode in the first chase group at 15 seconds.

Halfway into the second lap, Albert moved into the lead. Soon after, his pace distanced most riders except for Belgian champion Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony). But the pace also proved too high for the experienced Belgian and he crashed hard in a tricky descent early on in the third lap.

“I’m in a lot of pain. I was on the wrong track and didn’t click into the pedal with one foot. I landed on the top of my frame. Physically I didn’t suffer much today but the crash hurt a lot,” Nys told Sporza.

Albert rode alone in front from then on, with Pauwels the sole chaser by the end of the third lap. Nys slipped to sixth position, at more than half a minute from Albert. However Pauwels failed to close the gap on Albert and he was caught back by teammate Vantornout and at halfway through the race – after four out of eight laps – the Sunweb duo trailed Albert by 18 seconds.

From there Vantornout occasionally seemed able to take ground back on Albert but he was never able to reduce the gap inside of 10 seconds. Eventually Albert easily took the win. Behind him Vantornout sat up in the final metres in order to hand the World Cup points for second place to teammate Pauwels but he didn’t know that Pauwels had suffered a mechanical problem in the last lap. Francis Mourey (FDJ) was the first non-Belgian in Plzen in eighth place. 

There was little to celebrate for the US riders. After his first corner crash Powers didn’t make up enough ground to gain UCI points and he didn’t finish the sixth lap. By that time Timothy Johnson (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) had also left the race, while riding at the back of the pack. Jonathan Page rode in the top-25 but faded in the second half of the race. He finished 32nd, 6:29 behind winner Niels Albert.

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP - Powerplus1:08:26
2Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor0:00:36
3Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Sunweb-Revor0:00:45
4Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet - Fidea0:00:54
5Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet - Fidea0:01:09
6Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Euphony0:01:31
7Bart Aernouts (Bel) AA Drink Cyclocross Team0:02:14
8Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ-BigMat0:02:45
9Thijs van Amerongen (Ned) AA Drink Cyclocross Team0:02:58
10Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team0:03:04
11Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Selle Italia-Guerciotti-Elite0:03:12
12Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP - Powerplus0:03:21
13Gerben de Knegt (Ned) Orange Babies Cycling Team0:03:27
14Radomir Simunek (Cze) BKCP - Powerplus0:03:45
15Egoitz Murgoitio Rekalde (Spa) Grupo Hiremet Taldea0:03:50
16Twan van den Brand (Ned) Orange Babies Cycling Team0:04:03
17Jim Aernouts (Bel) Sunweb-Revor0:04:15
18Thijs Al (Ned) Telenet - Fidea0:04:22
19Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing Team0:04:28
20Niels Wubben (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off-Road Team0:04:44
21Patrick van Leeuwen (Ned) Orange Babies Cycling Team0:04:52
22Martin Bina (Cze) CEZ Cyklo Team Tábor0:05:01
23Lars van der Haar (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off-Road Team0:05:07
24Petr Dlask (Cze) Madeta - Fitness / Specialized0:05:18
25Simon Zahner (Swi) EKZ Racing Team0:05:19
26Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP - PowerplusRow 25 - Cell 2
27Mariusz Gil (Pol) Baboco0:05:28
28Nicolas Bazin (Fra) Auber 930:05:36
29Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Cyclingteam De Rijke-Shanks0:05:45
30Mitchell Huenders (Ned)0:05:57
31Arnaud Grand (Swi) Telenet - Fidea0:06:08
32Jonathan Page (USA)0:06:29
33Jirí Polnický (Cze) Whirlpool - Author0:06:33
34Guillaume Perrot (Fra)0:06:45
35Ian Field (GBr) Hargroves Cycles-Specialized0:06:55
36David Kášek (Cze) CEZ Cyklo Team Tábor0:07:05
37Sascha Weber (Ger) Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de0:07:35
38Arnaud Jouffroy (Fra) Telenet - Fidea0:07:45
39Lubomir Petrus (Cze) BKCP - Powerplus0:08:07
40 (-1 lap)Milan Barenyi (Svk)Row 39 - Cell 2
41Marco Ponta (Ita) Centro SportivoRow 40 - Cell 2
42Elia Silvestri (Ita) Selle Italia-Guerciotti-EliteRow 41 - Cell 2
43Ondrej Bambula (Cze) CEZ Cyklo Team TáborRow 42 - Cell 2
44Vladimír Kyzivát (Cze) Johnson Controls TJ Auto ŠkodaRow 43 - Cell 2
45Vaclav Metlicka (Svk) Johnson Controls TJ Auto ŠkodaRow 44 - Cell 2
46Matthieu Boulo (Fra) Roubaix Lille MétropoleRow 45 - Cell 2
47 (-2 laps)Robert Gavenda (Svk) Dukla Trencín TrekRow 46 - Cell 2
48Mirko Tabacchi (Ita)Row 47 - Cell 2
49Marcel Meisen (Ger) BKCP - PowerplusRow 48 - Cell 2
50 (-3 laps)Marco Bianco (Ita)Row 49 - Cell 2
51Martin Haring (Svk) CK Banská BystricaRow 50 - Cell 2
52Cristian Cominelli (Ita) Team IdeaRow 51 - Cell 2
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Standings
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP - Powerplus145pts
2Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Sunweb-Revor145Row 1 - Cell 3
3Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Revor130Row 2 - Cell 3
4Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet - Fidea106Row 3 - Cell 3
5Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Euphony105Row 4 - Cell 3
6Lars van der Haar (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off-Road Team98Row 5 - Cell 3
7Bart Aernouts (Bel) AA Drink Cyclocross Team98Row 6 - Cell 3
8Bart Wellens (Bel) Telenet - Fidea93Row 7 - Cell 3
9Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ-BigMat83Row 8 - Cell 3
10Thijs van Amerongen (Ned) AA Drink Cyclocross Team80Row 9 - Cell 3
11Twan van den Brand (Ned) Orange Babies Cycling Team79Row 10 - Cell 3
12Radomir Simunek (Cze) BKCP - Powerplus77Row 11 - Cell 3
13Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team75Row 12 - Cell 3
14Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP - Powerplus71Row 13 - Cell 3
15Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing Team71Row 14 - Cell 3
16Simon Zahner (Swi) EKZ Racing Team68Row 15 - Cell 3
17Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Selle Italia-Guerciotti-Elite68Row 16 - Cell 3
18Niels Wubben (Ned) Rabobank-Giant Off-Road Team66Row 17 - Cell 3
19Gerben de Knegt (Ned) Orange Babies Cycling Team64Row 18 - Cell 3
20Martin Bina (Cze) CEZ Cyklo Team Tábor59Row 19 - Cell 3
21Thijs Al (Ned) Telenet - Fidea56Row 20 - Cell 3
22Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP - Powerplus54Row 21 - Cell 3
23Jirí Polnický (Cze) Whirlpool - Author52Row 22 - Cell 3
24Egoitz Murgoitio Rekalde (Spa) Grupo Hiremet Taldea51Row 23 - Cell 3
25Jeremy Powers (USA) Rapha-Focus48Row 24 - Cell 3
26Arnaud Grand (Swi) Telenet - Fidea45Row 25 - Cell 3
27Patrick van Leeuwen (Ned) Orange Babies Cycling Team44Row 26 - Cell 3
28Mariusz Gil (Pol) Baboco42Row 27 - Cell 3
29Guillaume Perrot (Fra)41Row 28 - Cell 3
30Jonathan Page (USA)41Row 29 - Cell 3
31Matthieu Boulo (Fra) Roubaix Lille Métropole36Row 30 - Cell 3
32Ian Field (GBr) Hargroves Cycles-Specialized35Row 31 - Cell 3
33Jim Aernouts (Bel) Sunweb-Revor34Row 32 - Cell 3
34Lubomir Petrus (Cze) BKCP - Powerplus32Row 33 - Cell 3
35Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Cyclingteam De Rijke-Shanks30Row 34 - Cell 3
36Marcel Meisen (Ger) BKCP - Powerplus29Row 35 - Cell 3
37Petr Dlask (Cze) Madeta - Fitness / Specialized27Row 36 - Cell 3
38David Kášek (Cze) CEZ Cyklo Team Tábor26Row 37 - Cell 3
39Nicolas Bazin (Fra) Auber 9323Row 38 - Cell 3
40Vladimír Kyzivát (Cze) Johnson Controls TJ Auto Škoda23Row 39 - Cell 3
41Marco Ponta (Ita) Centro Sportivo23Row 40 - Cell 3
42Mitchell Huenders (Ned)21Row 41 - Cell 3
43Timothy Johnson (USA) Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld21Row 42 - Cell 3
44Elia Silvestri (Ita) Selle Italia-Guerciotti-Elite21Row 43 - Cell 3
45Micky van Empel (Ned) Landbouwkrediet-KDL17Row 44 - Cell 3
46Arnaud Jouffroy (Fra) Telenet - Fidea17Row 45 - Cell 3
47Ondrej Bambula (Cze) CEZ Cyklo Team Tábor15Row 46 - Cell 3
48Sascha Weber (Ger) Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de14Row 47 - Cell 3
49Milan Barenyi (Svk)12Row 48 - Cell 3
50Mirko Tabacchi (Ita)12Row 49 - Cell 3
51Vaclav Metlicka (Svk) Johnson Controls TJ Auto Škoda11Row 50 - Cell 3
52Cristian Cominelli (Ita) Team Idea10Row 51 - Cell 3
53Martin Haring (Svk) CK Banská Bystrica6Row 52 - Cell 3
54Robert Gavenda (Svk) Dukla Trencín Trek4Row 53 - Cell 3
55Lukas Winterberg (Swi) Team Müller Gartengestaltung/BH Bikes3Row 54 - Cell 3
56Marco Bianco (Ita)3Row 55 - Cell 3

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