CX Worlds Results

Nice one, Niels!
(image credit: Peter Huys CC BY-SA 2.0)

Well, we really hope none of you took our advice on the likely outcome of the Elite Men's race to heart and bet your life's savings on Sven Nys. Based on his previous performance on the sand of Koksijde, we had him down for victory, but the 2005 Champion could manage no better than 7th today on a parcours that left him noticeably struggling. Defending champion Zdenek Stybar also performed worse than anticipated and in spite of enormous support from the 70,000-strong crowd - many of whom had turned out dressed in pink to match the Czech rider's bike (and pants, worn Superman-style over his kit) and must have been disappointed to see their hero right down in 13th place. He revealed on Monday that his poor performance is now explained - he's got the virus that has been doing the rounds of the CX world all season...

zdenekstybar Zdenek Stybar 

Damn it, why did i have to get sick right on the big DAY I'd been working so freaking hard for? Laying sick in bed with fever:(

In fact, of all the top-three favourites, only Kevin Pauwels delivered the goods with his third place finish exactly as expected. However, next time things may be very different. K-Pow has never ridden quite as well here as he does on other courses, but every time he does he's markedly improved on last time - give him another year or two and he may be the dominant force in cyclo cross. Niels Albert rode well for the victory, leading a Belgian team that effortlessly bulldozed its way through sand dunes and opposition alike - all seven top riders were Belgian, a record.

There were no surprises in the Elite Women's race: there never are when Dutch superstar Marianne Vos is riding. She soon took the lead from British Champion Helen Wyman and, after riding with Sanne van Paassen to the first dune, powered away to build an ever-increasing lead that left the rest fighting for the podium's lower steps. Having now been World Champion a record five times, Vos has equaled André Dufraisse and Renato Longo's  five wins in the 1950s and 1960s - making her arguably the joint second most successful cyclo cross rider of all time behind Erik de Vlaeminck (seven World Championships) and far and away the most successful in women's cyclo cross. Fans were angered following the race when a UCI official asked her if she felt she might be "killing the sport" during a post-race interview and it won't have gone unnoticed that nobody asked Albert if he thinks Belgium is killing men's cyclo cross.

(More on the women's race - and Vos' effect on women's cyclo cross - here.)


Elite Women

  1 Marianne Vos Rabobank Ladies Team 00:41:04
  2 Daphny Van Den Brand WV Schijndel 00:37
  3 Sanne Cant Boxx VeldritAcademie 00:38
  4 Sanne Van Paassen Brainwash 00:49
  5 Katherine Compton Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team 00:53
  6 Nikki Harris 01:03
  7 Sophie De Boer WV Schijndel 01:05
  8 Katerina Nash 01:11
  9 Jasmin Achermann 01:12
  10 Lucie Chainel-Lefevre 01:54
  11 Pavla Havlikova 02:43
  12 Sabrina Stultiens Brainwash ST
  13 Helen Wyman 02:45
  14 Christine Majerus Team GSD Gestion 02:46
  15 Linda Van Rijen Skil - 1t4i 02:52
  16 Arenda Grimberg 03:01
  17 Gesa Bruchmann 03:30
  18 Caroline Mani 03:36
  19. Nicole Duke 03:40
  20 Meredith Miller 03:54
  21 Olga Wasiuk 04:52
  22 Martina Mikulaskova 05:04
  23 Amy Dombroski Cranckbrothers 05:21
  24 Joyce Vanderbeken 05:34
  25 Kajsa Snihs 05:39
  26 Kaitlin Antonneau Exergy Twenty12 05:41
  27 Rocio Gamonal 05:43
  28 Sabrina Maurer 05:56
  29 Nikoline Hansen 06:19
  30 Asa Maria Erlandsson 06:34
  31 Alice Maria Arzuffi 06:55
  32 Ayako Toyooka 00:01
  33 Sakiko Miyauchi ST
  34 Lise-Marie Henzelin ST 
  35 Genevieve Whitson Asptt Dijon - Bourgogne 00:02 
  36 Madara Furmane ST

Elite Men

  1 Niels Albert BKCP-Powerplus 01:06:07
  2 Rob Peeters Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 00:24
  3 Kevin Pauwels Sunweb - Revor 00:30
  4 Tom Meeusen Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 00:34 
  5 Bart Aernouts Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team 00:35 
  6 Klaas Vantornout Sunweb - Revor 01:09 
  7 Sven Nys Landbouwkrediet - Euphony 01:11 
  8 Radomir Simunek BKCP-Powerplus 02:15 
  9 Philipp Walsleben BKCP-Powerplus 02:25 
  10 Simon Zahner Suisse Ekz 02:31 
  11 Steve Chainel Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat 02:37 
  12 Francis Mourey Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat 02:48 
  13 Zdenek Stybar Omega Pharma - Quickstep 03:17 
  14 Aurelien Duval 03:41 
  15 Niels Wubben Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team ST
  16 Julien Taramarcaz 03:42 
  17 Gerben De Knegt Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team ST
  18 Ryan Trebon 04:02 
  19 Marcel Meisen BKCP-Powerplus 04:06 
  20 Jose Ramos ST
  21 Twan Van Den Brand WV Schijndel 04:07 
  22 Mariusz Gil Baboco - Revor Cycling Team 04:22 
  23 Thijs Van Amerongen AA Cycling Team 04:40 
  24 Christoph Pfingsten Cycling Team De Rijke 05:10 
  25 Christian Heule 00:01 
  26 Jeremy Powers Jelly Belly Cycling 00:02 
  27 Marcel Wildhaber ST
  28 Enrico Franzoi Miche-Guerciotti ST
  29 John Gadret Ag2R - La Mondiale ST
  30 Jiri Polnicky PSK Whirlpool-Author ST
  31 Martin Zlamalik ST
  32 Mitchell Huenders Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielerteam 00:03 
  33 Vladimir Kyzivat ST
  34 Tim Johnson ST
  35 Isaac Suarez ST
  36 Ian Field ST (best British rider)
  37 Petr Dlask ST
  38 Clement Bourgoin Charvieu-Chavagneux IC ST
  39 Sascha Weber Team Differdange ST
  40 Marco Ponta ST
  41 Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez ST
  42 James Driscoll Jamis/Sutter Home Pro Cycling Team ST
  43 Chris Jones UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis 00:05 
  44 Mirko Tabacchi ST
  45 Yu Takenouchi ST
  46 Magnus Darvell ST
  47 Martin Haring ST
  48 Gusty Bausch ST
  49 Christian Helmig ST
  50 Christian Cominelli Team Idea ST
  51 Craig Richey 00:06 
  52 Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez ST
  53 Vaclav Metlicka ST
  54 Daniel Geismayr ST
  55 Keichi Tsujiura ST
  56 Karl Heinz Gollinger 00:07
  57 Rattray Lewis ST
  58 Robert Gehbauer ST
  59 David Andrew Quist 00:08

Lars van der Haar

Under-23

  1 Lars Van Der Haar Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team 00:49:20 
  2 Wietse Bosmans BKCP-Powerplus 00:01 
  3 Michiel Van Der Heijden Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team 00:04 
  4 Arnaud Jouffroy Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 00:05 
  5 Laurens Sweeck 00:50 
  6 Marek Konwa 00:56 
  7 Mike Teunissen Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team 01:03 
  8 Arnaud Grand Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 01:13 
  9 David Menut Cr4c Roanne ST
  10 Gianni Vermeersch BKCP-Powerplus 01:28 
  11 Vinnie Braet Sunweb - Revor ST
  12 Zach Mcdonald 01:48 
  13 David Van Der Poel BKCP-Powerplus 01:55 
  14 Julian Alaphilippe Armée De Terre 02:04 
  15 Stan Godrie Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team 02:07 
  16 Tomas Paprstka 02:08 
  17 Nipl Vojtech 02:17 
  18 Clément Venturini 02:30 
  19 Elia Silvestri 02:49 
  20 Jan Nesvadba 02:50 
  21 Bryan Falaschi 03:18 
  22 Karel Hnik Sunweb - Revor 03:21 
  23 Michael Schweizer 03:22 
  24 Lars Forster 03:39 
  25 Kenneth Hansen 03:42 
  26 Michael Vanthourenhout BKCP-Powerplus 04:04 
  27. Igor Smarzaro 04:07 - -
  28 Micki Van Empel Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 04:13 
  29 Yannick Eckmann 04:14 
  30 Kenta Gallagher 04:20 
  31 Max Walsleben 04:22 
  32 Fabian Lienhard 04:41 
  33 Michael Wildhaber ST
  34 Daniele Braidot 05:44 
  35 Emil Arvid Olsen 05:50 
  36 Luca Braidot 00:01 
  37 Jonathan Lastra Grupo Hirumet Taldea ST
  38. Cody Kaiser ST
  39 Yannick Mayer Team NSP - Ghost ST
  40 Jack Clarkson ST
  41 Pablo Rodriguez Guede Grupo Hirumet Taldea ST
  42 Wojciech Malec 00:02 
  43 Jon Gomez ST
  44 Patryk Kostecki ST
  45 Iñigo Gómez 00:03
  46 Félix Côte-bouvette ST
  47 Lex Reichling ST
  48 Ludwig Söderqvist ST
  49 Bartosz Pilis ST
  50 Jaroslav Chalas Dukla Trencin - Merida ST
  51 Alexander Gehbauer ST
  52 Luke Gray ST
  53 Domas Manikas 00:04 


Juniors
  1 Mathieu Van Der Poel Boxx VeldritAcademie 00:42:36
  2 Wout Van Aert Young Telenet-fidea 00:08
  3 Quentin Jauregui Boxx VeldritAcademie 00:21
  4 Quinten Hermans Young Telenet-fidea ST
  5 Daan Soete Young Telenet-fidea ST
  6 Yorbin Van Tichelt 00:48
  7 Silvio Herklotz 01:00
  8 Daan Hoeyberghs Boxx VeldritAcademie 01:25
  9 Romain Seigle 01:32
  10 Victor Koretzky 02:11
  11 Anthony Turgis 02:23
  12 Dominic Zumstein 02:24
  13 Gioele Bertolini 02:40
  14 Andrew Dillman 03:08 (best British rider)
  15 Felix Drumm 03:11
  16 Tim Ariesen 03:12
  17 Logan Owen 03:15
  18 Martijn Budding Boxx VeldritAcademie 03:16
  19 Toki Sawada ST
  20 Marco König 03:30
  21 Andri Frischknecht 04:05
  22 Stan Wijkel Young Telenet-fidea 04:07
  23 Dylan Kowalski ST
  24 Jan Brezna ST
  25 Pjotr Van Beek 04:31
  26 Michal Paluta 04:43
  27 Jan Vastl 04:44
  28 Karel Pokorny 04:45
  29 Emil Linde 04:57
  30 Dominic Grab 05:06
  31 Koen Weijers 05:34
  32 Jose Manuel Ribera 05:37
  33 Kevin Suarez Fernandez 05:43
  34 Curtis White 05:45
  35 Piotr Konwa 05:59
  36 Nadir Colledani ST
  37 Dennis Wahlqvist ST
  38 Steffen Müller 06:28
  39 Joseph Moses 06:35
  40 Yohan Patry 06:50
  41 Kota Yokoyama 06:52
  42 Michimasa Nakai 07:08
  43 Luca De Nicola 07:10
  44 Johannes Siemermann 07:15
  45 Stosz Patryk 00:01
  46 Simon Vozar ST
  47 Riccardo Redaelli ST
  48  Tobin Ortenblad ST
  49 Jaime Campo 00:02
  50 Samuel Beaudoin ST
  51 Ondrej Glazja ST
  52 Sven Fritsch ST
  53 Mateusz Grabis ST
  54 Francesco Pedante ST
  55 Richard Gorry 00:03
  56 Tobiasz Lis ST
  57 Zigymantas Baikstys 00:04