Stybar signs off

Zdenek Stybar
(image credit: Thomas Ducroquet CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Belgian Gazet van Antwerpen reports that the current cyclo cross season will be the last that present World Champion Zdenek Stybar rides in full. The 26-year-old Czech rider won't be waving goodbye to cross altogether, though - he will remain with Quick Step following its merger with Omega Pharma for 2012 and says he'll follow the example set by Lars Boom by using off-road races as part of his off-season training for road races.

"This could be my only chance to ride with a World Tour team," he told the newspaper which, with the famous GVA racing series is as tied up in cyclo cross as L'Equip is in road racing. "So I'm grabbing that chance and dedicating myself to it."

Boom won numerous cross titles before turning his attention to road racing and has since won National Road and Time Trial Championships and, in 2011, the increasingly-prestigious Tour of Britain - just one of many riders for whom cross success translated into road glory. Stybar's excellent results to date suggest he'll do the same.

More: "Enjoy it while it lasts: Zdenek Stybar's final full cross season" at Podium Cafe