Advertisement

PLZEN, CZECH REPUBLIC – On a chilly, muddy course Katie Compton (Trek) overcame early difficulties to claw her way back to a lead group containing Helen Wyman (Kona), Sanne van Paassen (Rabobank), Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea),  Hanka Kupfernagel (Rusvelo), and Sanne Cant (BKCP). Compton then took to the lead, and by the end of the race had shed all her competitors. With slippery mud, the legendary strength-sapping stairs, and difficult turns, this was a race against the course more than against competitors, and Compton proved best equipped to take Plzen on. The United Kingdom’s Helen Wyman rode a consistent, confident race, and grabbed second. Nikki Harris narrowly held onto third as Sanne van Paassen and Hanka Kupfernagel sprinted behind her, with van Paassen taking the fourth place slot. American Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld) took 18th, followed by Amy Dombroski (Telenet-Fidea) in 21st, Maureen Bruno Roy (Bob’s Red Mill) in 23rd, and longtime Cyclocross Magazine correspondent Christine Vardaros (Baboco) in 28th.

American Katie Compton on her way to the win © Bart Hazen

American Katie Compton on her way to the win © Bart Hazen

In the Junior men’s race, American Logan Owen (Redline) took an impressive third place behind winner Mathieu van Der Poel, who dominated the race pole to pole. Belgian Quinten Hermans, who took second, did his best to follow, but could not keep the wheel of the world champion. This is Owen’s second top five placement in as many races, and van Der Poel’s second win. Zach McDonald (Rapha-Focus) also had a strong race, taking 13th in the U23 category behind Belgium’s Wietse Bosmans. Michael Vanthourenhout took the hole shot and the early lead, but in the second lap, Bosmans took over and slowly extended his lead for the duration of the race. Even a crash after trying to jump over the barriers didnt hurt him. World cup leader Mike Teunissen suffered a mechanical at the start, but still managed to chase from last position to finish sixth on the day.

Logan Owen © Bart Hazen

US Junior Logan Owen had the best result of his life today © Bart Hazen

In the men’s race, American Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) took a hard dive in the first corner, hitting pavement and being slow to get back on his bike as the field continued on. With the slippery, technically challenging conditions, the race at the front quickly separated, with Sven Nys  (Landbouwkrediet) and Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) proving the most adept at handling the conditions. By the second lap, the two rivals had created daylight between themselves and chasers Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor), Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea), and Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor) pursuing behind. For a moment, it looked as if the duo would spend the race attacking and covering each other. However, even the best can falter, and today Sven Nys continued his World Cup bad luck as he took a spill on a slippery descent, knocking his front wheel out of alignment. As Nys fell back a handful of places, Albert was left alone to fly. The world champion rode a clean race, cautiously expanding his lead and taking his first World Cup win of the season.

Behind him, Klaas Vantornout took a commanding second place finish, using his long legs to distance himself from teammate Kevin Pauwels on the 27 stair-steps heading into the finishing corners. The two had spent much of the race trading positions, with Pauwels looking stronger earlier on, but eventually fading in light of a course that clearly favored the runners. However, knowing that Pauwels has a better stake in the overall standings, Vantornout soft-pedaled the finish, looking behind him, in the hopes that Pauwels could catch back on and take silver. An impressive ride by Rob Peeters (Telenet-Fidea), however, forced Vantornout over the line as Peeters and Pauwels sprinted for third, with Peeters coming out on top. The effort was for naught, however, as Peeters was disqualified for riding through the pit without dismounting, thus moving Pauwels into third. Tom Meeusen took fourth, with Bart Wellens and then Sven Nys following behind.

The third place finish would have been one of Peeters’ best placements, and the Telenet-Fidea rider was less than pleased with his disqualification. “I definitely did a stop-and-go. I was very good today. I was going to stand on the podium,” he said.

After recovering from his crash, Jeremy Powers set about to make the best of his disappointing start, but instead suffered a race-ending mechanical. “I got something in my cogs…which snapped my hanger off with two laps to go right at the start/finish,” Powers said on his Facebook page. “I hate dropping out of races, an event like today’s race for me and the team takes a lot of time and energy…not to mention money. So it’s a raw deal. It’s not a pity party though, I’m alive and well…just need a couple days to get back to the States and get my rhythm going again!”

BART HAZEN GALLERIES:

Elite Men:

Elite Women:

U23:

Juniors:

Thomas van Bracht Galleries:

Elite Men

Elite Women:

FULL RESULTS:

2012 World Cup Plzen Elite Men

RankNameNat.Result
1Niels ALBERTBEL1:08:26
2Klaas VANTORNOUTBEL1:09:02
3Kevin PAUWELSBEL1:09:11
4Tom MEEUSENBEL1:09:20
5Bart WELLENSBEL1:09:35
6Sven NYSBEL1:09:57
7Bart AERNOUTSBEL1:10:40
8Francis MOUREYFRA1:11:11
9Thijs VAN AMERONGENNED1:11:24
10Julien TARAMARCAZSUI1:11:30
11Enrico FRANZOIITA1:11:38
12Dieter VANTHOURENHOUTBEL1:11:47
13Gerben DE KNEGTNED1:11:53
14Radomir SIMUNEKCZE1:12:11
15Egoitz MURGOITIO REKALDEESP1:12:16
16Twan VAN DEN BRANDNED1:12:29
17Jim AERNOUTSBEL1:12:41
18Thijs ALNED1:12:48
19Marcel WILDHABERSUI1:12:54
20Niels WUBBENNED1:13:10
21Patrick VAN LEEUWENNED1:13:18
22Martin BINACZE1:13:27
23Lars VAN DER HAARNED1:13:33
24Petr DLASKCZE1:13:44
25Simon ZAHNERSUI1:13:45
26Philipp WALSLEBENGER1:13:45
27Mariusz GILPOL1:13:54
28Nicolas BAZINFRA1:14:02
29Christoph PFINGSTENGER1:14:11
30Mitchell HUENDERSNED1:14:23
31Arnaud GRANDSUI1:14:34
32Jonathan PAGEUSA1:14:55
33Jiri POLNICKYCZE1:14:59
34Guillaume PERROTFRA1:15:11
35Ian FIELDGBR1:15:21
36David KASEKCZE1:15:31
37Sascha WEBERGER1:16:01
38Arnaud JOUFFROYFRA1:16:11
39Lubomir PETRUSCZE1:16:33
40Milan BARENYISVK
41Marco PONTAITA
42Ondrej BAMBULACZE
43Vladimir KYZIVATCZE
44Vaclav METLICKASVK
45Matthieu BOULOFRA
46Robert GAVENDASVK
47Mirko TABACCHIITA
48Marcel MEISENGER
49Marco BIANCOITA
50Martin HARINGSVK
51Cristian COMINELLIITA

2012 World Cup Plzen Elite Women

RankNameNat.Result
1Katherine COMPTONUSA41:18:00
2Helen WYMANGBR41:33:00
3Nikki HARRISGBR41:47:00
4Sanne VAN PAASSENNED41:48:00
5Hanka KUPFERNAGELGER41:50:00
6Jasmin ACHERMANNSUI42:18:00
7Sanne CANTBEL42:45:00
8Lucie CHAINEL-LEFEVREFRA43:07:00
9Gabriella DAYGBR43:17:00
10Pavla HAVLIKOVACZE43:38:00
11Christel FERRIER-BRUNEAUFRA43:40:00
12Sophie DE BOERNED44:23:00
13Marlène MOREL PETITGIRARDFRA44:39:00
14Sabrina SCHWEIZERGER44:46:00
15Vania ROSSIITA44:51:00
16Arenda GRIMBERGNED45:03:00
17Julie KRASNIAKFRA45:06:00
18Kaitlin ANTONNEAUUSA45:08:00
19Joyce VANDERBEKENBEL45:18:00
20Annefleur KALVENHAARNED45:31:00
21Amy DOMBROSKIUSA46:16:00
22Caroline MANIFRA46:35:00
23Maureen BRUNO ROYUSA46:44:00
24Alice Maria ARZUFFIITA47:11:00
25Ellen VAN LOYBEL47:46:00
26Francesca CAUZITA48:06:00
27Margriet Helena KLOPPENBURGDEN48:10:00
28Christine VARDAROSUSA48:33:00
29Martina MIKULASKOVACZE48:45:00
30Nancy BOBERBEL49:02:00
31Tereza MEDVEDOVASVK49:08:00
32Karla STEPANOVACZE
33Nadja HEIGLAUT

2012 World Cup Plzen U23

RankNameNat.Result
1Wietse BOSMANSBEL52:20:00
2Wout VAN AERTBEL52:39:00
3Michael VANTHOURENHOUTBEL52:54:00
4David VAN DER POELNED53:15:00
5Corne VAN KESSELNED53:33:00
6Mike TEUNISSENNED53:42:00
7Tijmen EISINGNED53:52:00
8Michael (JR) SCHWEIZERGER53:57:00
9Gianni VERMEERSCHBEL54:03:00
10Karel HNIKCZE54:06:00
11Matej LASAKCZE54:18:00
12Laurens SWEECKBEL54:45:00
13Zach MCDONALDUSA55:16:00
14Yannick ECKMANNGER55:17:00
15Michael BOROSCZE55:21:00
16Gert-Jan BOSMANNED55:30:00
17Fabien DOUBEYFRA55:34:00
18Jakub SKALACZE55:56:00
19Emiel DOLFSMANED56:04:00
20Tomas PAPRSTKACZE56:05:00
21Lukas MÜLLERSUI56:28:00
22Fabian LIENHARDSUI56:38:00
23Julian ALAPHILIPPEFRA56:51:00
24Jonas PEDERSENDEN56:58:00
25Radek POLNICKYCZE57:03:00
26Lars FORSTERSUI57:10:00
27Loic DOUBEYFRA57:26:00
28Cody KAISERUSA57:48:00
29Vojtech NIPLCZE57:49:00
30Luca BRAIDOTITA58:01:00
31Jens ADAMSBEL58:10:00
32Clément VENTURINIFRA58:28:00
33Toni BRETSCHNEIDERGER59:12:00
34Jonathan LASTRA MARTINEZESP59:22:00
35Severin SAGESSERSUI59:33:00
36Ondrej GLAJZASVK1:00:50
37Felix DRUMMGER
38Yannick MAYERGER
39Johannes SIEMERMANNGER
40Kamil WOLKIEWICZPOL

 

2012 World Cup Plzen Juniors

RankNameNat.Result
1Mathieu VAN DER POELNED42:21:00
2Quinten HERMANSBEL43:33:00
3Logan OWENUSA44:19:00
4Gioele BERTOLINIITA44:27:00
5Nicolas CLEPPEBEL44:48:00
6Martijn BUDDINGNED45:05:00
7Ben BOETSBEL45:11:00
8Karel POKORNYCZE45:19:00
9Kobe GOOSSENSBEL45:30:00
10Clement RUSSOFRA45:40:00
11Thomas JOSEPHBEL46:15:00
12Elie GESBERTFRA46:30:00
13Curtis WHITEUSA46:33:00
14Bjorn VAN DER HEIJDENNED46:38:00
15Richard JANSENNED46:57:00
16Benoit COSNEFROYFRA47:18:00
17Marco KÖNIGGER47:22:00
18Adam TOUPALIKCZE47:28:00
19Michal PALUTAPOL47:29:00
20Simon VOZARSVK47:30:00
21Moreno PELLIZZONITA47:42:00
22Lukas MEILERGER48:09:00
23Filip KUBINCZE48:43:00
24Adrian AUERBACHERGER48:50:00
25Dominik VRANACZE49:03:00
26Roman LEHKYCZE49:18:00
27Karel SVRCINACZE49:35:00
28Kamil MALECKIPOL49:50:00
29Martin DEJMEKCZE50:17:00
30Lukasz MANSKIPOL
31Piotr RZESZUTEKPOL
32Manuel TODAROITA
33Jakub HONZIKCZE
34Juraj BELLANSVK
35Justin RUDOLPHGER
36Manuel MÜLLERGER
37David ZVERKOSVK
38Magnus SKJOTHDEN
39Sebastian CANECKYSVK