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Compton takes another one. © Bart Hazen

Compton takes another one. © Bart Hazen

KOKSIJDE, BELGIUM – In what could be a foreshadowing of the 2012 World Championships to be hosted on the same course, Niels Albert (BCKP-Powerplus) won the third round of the UCI World Cup in Koksijde, Belgium, over Zdenek Stybar (Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team) and Sven Nys (Lanbouwkrediet).

Despite a poor start, Albert moved up quickly and managed to reach the lead group of nine riders. Halfway through the race, a strong looking Nys attacked but was slowed by a dropped chain. Taking advantage of the situation, Albert countered the move ahead of the sand and managed to grow his solo lead to the finish.

“I just went. I just looked around and saw that de Knegt was second position and Stybar was third position, so I just wanted to go and to do my own thing,” Albert said.

As Albert rode for the win, the trio of Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea), Nys and Stybar marked one another. With the riders watching each other closely, Albert’s gap grew.

Between the tightness of the course and the competition within the chase, Nys said they somewhat gave up on catching Albert.

“I could get 10 seconds closer, but Niels was also riding for the first place, so I said, OK, I must try to be second or third, and for me that was as high as possible,” Nys said.

While Nys and Stybar watched one another closely, Wellens attacked and managed to near Albert. His move looked to be successful, but he faded coming into the final lap allowing Stybar to come past him. On a subsequent rise, Wellens stumbled and managed to block Nys from immediately passing.

However, Nys managed to eventually make it around Wellens as did Bart Aernouts (Rabobank-Giant Off Road Team).

Elite Women

On a day when the American men faltered, US national champion Katie Compton (Planet Bike) stormed to a 2:27 victory over runner-up Daphny van den Brand (ZZPR.nl) and Sanne van Paassen (BrainWash) on the Koksijde course.

The victory was her second World Cup win of the season and her third victory at Koksijde. Last year, Compton finished third behind Marianne Vos following a series of crashes. This year, she approached the race with a different mindset – and better sensations.

“You know, I felt good today. My skills are on, and I brought my A-game, which is much better than last year,” Compton said. “I had that in the back of my head racing, just how many mistakes I made last year: crashing and being all over the place. So I came in today just trying to be smooth and ride well. And I did it, so I’m happy with that.”

As Compton surged forward, van Paassen did her best to stay near, trailing her by only eight seconds. Twenty seconds further back, van den Brand and Hanka Kupfernagel (Itera-Stevens) were chasing. But the chase kept losing time to Compton who was posting lap times at least half a minute faster than her rivals.

As Compton raced for the win, van den Brand and van Paassen were battling for the World Cup leader’s jersey after van den Brand managed to bridge the gap. After finishing second, van den Brand claimed the jersey, but recognized the gap ceded to Compton.

“More than two minutes on Compton is a lot,” she said. “But this race wasn’t a serious test for me, I was too far behind at the start. I knew right away that it wasn’t going to be my day.”

North Americans

Seven Americans and four Canadians made the event, with Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) finishing in 21st and Tim Johnson (Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld.com) coming in 32nd in the men’s race. Christine Vardaros (Baboco) finished the women’s race in 31st, with three U23 riders in Danny Summerhill (Garmin-Slipstream), Jerome Townsend (BikeReg.com-Joe’s Garage-Scott)  and Jeremy Ferguson (Cal Giant) finishing in 39th, 44th, and 45th, respectively, after starting far back. Four Canadians also attended the race, with Craig Richey and Shaun Adamson finishing 46th and 52nd, respectively, in the mens’ race, Vicki Thomas in 37th in the women’s race and Karl Hoppner 45th in the Junior race.

Photo Gallery

Elite Men

Elite Women


U23/Juniors

Full Results:

Elite Men
Rank Name Nat. Age* Result Pts
1 Niels ALBERT BEL 25 1:06:05 200
2 Zdenek STYBAR CZE 26 1:06:32 160
3 Sven NYS BEL 35 1:06:36 140
4 Bart AERNOUTS BEL 29 1:06:37 120
5 Bart WELLENS BEL 33 1:06:47 110
6 Francis MOUREY FRA 31 1:07:01 100
7 Gerben DE KNEGT NED 36 1:07:03 90
8 Kevin PAUWELS BEL 27 1:07:06 80
9 Tom MEEUSEN BEL 23 1:07:08 70
10 Rob PEETERS BEL 26 1:08:48 60
11 Eddy VAN IJZENDOORN NED 26 1:09:07 58
12 Philipp WALSLEBEN GER 24 1:09:07 56
13 Christian HEULE SUI 36 1:09:25 54
14 Klaas VANTORNOUT BEL 29 1:09:36 52
15 Nicolas BAZIN FRA 28 1:09:53 50
16 Marco BIANCO ITA 29 1:10:17 48
17 Enrico FRANZOI ITA 29 1:10:42 46
18 Thijs VAN AMERONGEN NED 25 1:10:42 44
19 Petr DLASK CZE 35 1:10:44 42
20 Thijs AL NED 31 1:10:50 40
21 Jonathan PAGE USA 35 1:10:59 39
22 John GADRET FRA 32 1:11:44 38
23 Egoitz MURGOITIO REKALDE ESP 28 1:11:57 37
24 Patrick VAN LEEUWEN NED 26 1:12:05 36
25 Marcel WILDHABER SUI 26 1:12:09 35
26 Steve CHAINEL FRA 28 1:12:34 34
27 Christoph PFINGSTEN GER 24 1:13:16 33
28 Mariusz GIL POL 28 32
29 Martin ZLAMALIK CZE 29 31
30 Laurent COLOMBATTO FRA 33 30
31 Johannes SICKMUELLER GER 29 29
32 Timothy JOHNSON USA 34 28
33 Wilant VAN GILS NED 32 27
34 Marco PONTA ITA 24 26
35 Marek CICHOSZ POL 32 25
36 Fabio URSI ITA 25 24
37 Ian FIELD GBR 25 23
38 Vladimir KYZIVAT CZE 29 22
39 Romain VILLA FRA 26 21
40 Florian LE CORRE FRA 26 20
41 David KASEK CZE 29 19
42 Sascha WEBER GER 23 18
43 Mitchell HUENDERS NED 23 17
44 Tommy NIELSEN DEN 30 16
45 René LANG SUI 25 15
46 Craig RICHEY CAN 27 14
47 Jérome CHEVALLIER FRA 37 13
48 René BIRKENFELD GER 28 12
49 Xabier GARCIA IRAZOLA ESP 24 11
50 Gusty BAUSCH LUX 31 10
51 Joachim PARBO DEN 37 5
52 Shaun ADAMSON CAN 25 5
53 Jorge CANTALICIO CALERO ESP 24 5
54 ALBERTO CANDELAS CABALLLERO ESP 24 5
Elite Women
Rank Name Nat. Age* Result Pts
1 Katherine COMPTON USA 33 45:08:00 200
2 Daphny VAN DEN BRAND NED 33 47:35:00 160
3 Sanne VAN PAASSEN NED 23 47:54:00 140
4 Sanne CANT BEL 21 48:29:00 120
5 Hanka KUPFERNAGEL GER 37 48:48:00 110
6 Sophie DE BOER NED 21 48:49:00 100
7 Pavla HAVLIKOVA CZE 28 48:56:00 90
8 Christel FERRIER-BRUNEAU FRA 32 48:59:00 80
9 Helen WYMAN GBR 30 49:12:00 70
10 Sabrina SCHWEIZER GER 21 49:42:00 60
11 Linda VAN RIJEN NED 23 50:12:00 58
12 Nikki HARRIS GBR 25 50:15:00 56
13 Caroline MANI FRA 24 50:35:00 54
14 Reza HORMES NED 44 50:44:00 52
15 Joyce VANDERBEKEN BEL 27 51:01:00 50
16 Pauline FERRAND PREVOT FRA 19 51:26:00 48
17 Sabrina STULTIENS NED 18 51:32:00 46
18 Nadia TRIQUET-CLAUDE FRA 33 51:36:00 44
19 Gabriella DAY GBR 27 51:46:00 42
20 Jasmin ACHERMANN SUI 22 51:46:00 40
21 Arenda GRIMBERG NED 33 52:06:00 39
22 Nicole DE BIE – LEYTEN BEL 36 52:41:00 38
23 Nancy BOBER BEL 36 53:00:00 37
24 Elisabeth BRANDAU GER 26 53:04:00 36
25 Martina ZWICK GER 22 53:36:00 35
26 Helena VAN LEIJEN NED 17 34
27 Martina MIKULASKOVA CZE 18 33
28 Ellen VAN LOY BEL 31 32
29 Gertie WILLEMS BEL 34 31
30 Daniela BRESCIANI ITA 29 30
31 Christine VARDAROS USA 42 29
32 Nikoline HANSEN DEN 24 28
33 Nathalie NIJNS BEL 18 27
34 Katrien THIJS BEL 26 26
35 Nicoletta BRESCIANI ITA 25 25
36 Margriet Helena KLOPPENBURG DEN 23 24
37 Vicki THOMAS CAN 39 23
U23
Rank Name Nat. Age* Result Pts
1 Vincent BAESTAENS BEL 22 55:42:00 100
2 Marcel MEISEN GER 22 55:42:00 60
3 Lars VAN DER HAAR NED 20 55:46:00 40
4 Jim AERNOUTS BEL 22 55:57:00 30
5 Wietse BOSMANS BEL 20 56:21:00 25
6 Joeri ADAMS BEL 22 56:29:00 20
7 Vinnie BRAET BEL 20 56:40:00 17
8 Michiel VAN DER HEIJDEN NED 19 56:41:00 15
9 Kevin EECKHOUT BEL 22 56:46:00 12
10 Tijmen EISING NED 20 57:05:00 10
11 Sean DE BIE BEL 20 57:20:00 8
12 Matthieu BOULO FRA 22 57:28:00 6
13 Marek KONWA POL 21 57:29:00 4
14 Micki VAN EMPEL NED 21 57:35:00 2
15 Sven BEELEN BEL 21 57:43:00 1
16 Jiri POLNICKY CZE 22 57:52:00
17 Matteo TRENTIN ITA 22 58:28:00
18 Ole QUAST GER 22 58:29:00
19 Angelo DE CLERCQ BEL 20 58:29:00
20 Melvin RULLIERE FRA 22 58:31:00
21 Jens ADAMS BEL 19 58:33:00
22 Irwin GRAS FRA 20 58:40:00
23 Théo DUMANCHIN FRA 20 58:42:00
24 Gert-Jan BOSMAN NED 19 59:00:00
25 Corne VAN KESSEL NED 20 59:09:00
26 Michael (JR) SCHWEIZER GER 20 59:19:00
27 Mirko TABACCHI ITA 22 59:21:00
28 Kenneth HANSEN DEN 20 59:25:00
29 Matthias BOSSUYT BEL 20 59:31:00
30 Gianni VERMEERSCH BEL 19 59:40:00
31 Michael WINTERBERG SUI 21 1:00:53
32 Luca BRAIDOT ITA 20 1:01:03
33 Alexandre BILLON FRA 20 1:01:16
34 Radek POLNICKY CZE 19 1:01:17
35 Michael BOROS CZE 19 1:01:21
36 Valentin SCHERZ SUI 21 1:01:54
37 Théo VIMPERE FRA 21 1:01:56
38 Jan NESVADBA CZE 20 1:02:54
39 Daniel SUMMERHILL USA 22 1:03:39
40 Max WALSLEBEN GER 21 1:03:54
41 Emilien BARBEN SUI 20 1:04:02
42 Elia SILVESTRI ITA 21 1:04:20
43 Dario STAUBLE SUI 20 1:04:27
44 Jerome TOWNSEND USA 22
45 Jeremy FERGUSON USA 21
46 Scott THILTGES LUX 19
47 Vincent DIAS DOS SANTOS LUX 21
48 Wojciech HERBA POL 20
Junior Men
Rank Name Nat. Age* Result Pts
1 Laurens SWEECK BEL 18 40:45:00 30
2 Daniel PEETERS BEL 18 41:37:00 20
3 Diether SWEECK BEL 18 41:37:00 15
4 Danny VAN POPPEL NED 18 42:00:00 12
5 Lars FORSTER SUI 18 42:00:00 10
6 Jens VANDEKINDEREN BEL 18 42:00:00 8
7 Yorben VAN TICHELT BEL 17 42:01:00 6
8 Yannick ECKMANN GER 18 42:23:00 4
9 Quentin JAUREGUI FRA 17 42:34:00 2
10 Stan GODRIE NED 18 42:36:00 1
11 Jaap DE MAN NED 18 42:39:00
12 Silvio HERKLOTZ GER 17 42:52:00
13 Fabien DOUBEY FRA 18 43:13:00
14 Clément VENTURINI FRA 18 43:22:00
15 Kévin BOUVARD FRA 18 43:22:00
16 Pablo RODRIGUEZ GUEDE ESP 18 43:26:00
17 Daan SOETE BEL 17 43:36:00
18 Jeroen MEIJERS NED 18 43:37:00
19 Daan HOEYBERGHS BEL 17 43:43:00
20 Toon AERTS BEL 18 43:59:00
21 Lorenzo SAMPARISI ITA 18 44:05:00
22 Tomas MEDEK CZE 18 44:10:00
23 Federico ZURLO ITA 17 44:12:00
24 Jorn CLAES BEL 18 44:19:00
25 Maxim PANIS BEL 18 44:28:00
26 Fabian LIENHARD SUI 18 44:32:00
27 Matthias VAN DE VELDE BEL 17 44:36:00
28 Kevin LEDANOIS FRA 18 44:44:00
29 Dominic ZUMSTEIN SUI 17 44:46:00
30 Emil Arvid OLSEN DEN 18 44:49:00
31 Benjamin GELABERT FRA 18 44:52:00
32 Michael VANTHOURENHOUT BEL 18 45:06:00
33 Koen WEIJERS NED 17 45:09:00
34 Vojtech NIPL CZE 18 45:12:00
35 Jack CLARKSON GBR 18 45:23:00
36 Douwe VERBERNE NED 18 45:30:00
37 Julian LEHMANN GER 18 45:51:00
38 Riccardo REDAELLI ITA 17 46:17:00
39 Jakub SKALA CZE 18 46:19:00
40 Steffen MÜLLER GER 17 46:45:00
41 Alistair SLATER GBR 18 46:46:00
42 Tomas BOHATA CZE 18 47:57:00
43 Patryk KOSTECKI POL 18 48:05:00
44 Joseph MOSES GBR 17 48:16:00
45 Karl HOPPNER CAN 18 48:19:00
46 Tomas SVOBODA CZE 18 48:22:00
47 Wojciech MALEC POL 18 48:37:00
48 Dylan PAGE SUI 18 48:45:00
49 Sven FRITSCH LUX 17 49:11:00
50 Alex WELBURN GBR 17 49:42:00
51 Yannick GRUNER GER 17 50:26:00
52 Hugo ROBINSON GBR 17 50:35:00