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Category: Team TX Active-Bianchi, 2011
Cristian Cominelli - Bianchi TX Active
31st - Cyclo-Cross World Championships
Cristian Cominelli takes 31st in Cyclo-Cross World's
Six year after capturing the under 23 men’s world title in Sankt-Wendel, Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic) grabbed a second consecutive elite men’s world title on the same course, with a dominant and powerful ride.
Sven Nys (Belgium) finished second at 18 seconds, while Kevin Pauwels (Belgium) won the sprint for third place at a distant 1:15 from Stybar. The US-riders were pretty unlucky in the race. Jonathan Page punctured while in the lead group on the third lap but went on to finish 12th, with Jeremy Powers was 16th. Tim Johnson (Cannondale) crashed out of the race at the end of the fourth lap when he seemed to touch wheels on the athletics track.
“Because of my knee injury [picked up back in November] I gambled and put everything on winning the world championships. Being able to win today feels fantastic,” Stybar said.
During the first half of the race Stybar tried to split the large front group several times. A first breakaway attempt on the third lap with Nys and local hero Philipp Walsleben (Germany) was neutralized. Two laps later 'Stybi' tried again and this time only Nys was able to hold his wheel.
“There were too many Belgians up front and I didn't like that situation. Suddenly I was leading with Sven and I felt much more comfortable,” Stybar said.
The duo quickly built up a lead of half a minute on the chasers Walsleben, Pauwels, Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy) and Klaas Vantornout (Belgium). The race was then decided during the seventh of eleven laps when Stybar attacked on a long climb after taking a new bike.
“Shifting was becoming a problem and Sven just allowed me to take the lead again. I wanted to give it a try. Fortunately I didn't see him anymore,” Stybar said.
Right after being gapped Nys lost even more time due to a flat tyre and he ended up trailing Stybar by twenty seconds. The Czech kept riding flawlessly on the technical but fast course and held Nys at the same distance, proving he was the well-deserved winner in Sankt-Wendel.
“The strongest guy won today. He had one explosion too much in his legs. Then I had that flat tyre. I'm happy with second place,” Nys said.
Behind the two, Francis Mourey (France) made a remarkable comeback to get back to the chasers. The French champion crashed hard on the third lap and he lost almost a minute before he was back in the race. Working his way back up from 24th place, Mourey kept going flat out and in the last lap had the first chase group in sight. Pauwels didn't wait for Mourey though and the Belgian surged onto the running track finish to grab the bronze medal before Mourey, Walsleben and Vantornout. Fontana didn't push on during the last lap and the Italian champion crossed the line in seventh place.
Pauwels didn’t know about Mourey’s fight back. “I knew somebody was coming back but I don't know who it was. I've never seen Mourey as I wasn't looking back” he said. “I'm happy with my race. The two riders in front were better,”
In the last lap Pauwels received some help from compatriot Vantornout. “He told me something but I didn't understand it,” Pauwels said. Vantornout explained what happened. “We wanted another Belgian on the podium. On the last climb I was riding behind Kevin but I held my legs still when he attacked; it worked,” Vantornout said.
A large group sprinted for eighth place at more than two minutes behind Stybar. It was veteran Bart Wellens (Belgium) who held off Christian Heule (Switzerland), Tom Meeusen (Belgium), Gerben de Knegt (The Netherlands) and Jonathan Page (USA) who bounced back from a flat tyre in the third lap.
Pre-race favourite Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) was never in contention for the victory after a bad start and a flat tyre put him at a minute from the leaders after only two laps of racing. For a moment Albert was in the company of Page but unlike the American he didn't push on and the World Cup winner finished on a distant 24th place.
“I flatted on the second lap and knew right away that my race was over. I kept riding for my fans who made the trip over here. Of course I'm disappointed because I came to win,” Albert told Sporza.
The cyclo-cross world championships crown the season but of course cyclo-cross racing continues for another month with the conclusion of the Superprestige Series and the Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy in Belgium.
Next year's the cyclo-cross world championships are held in Koksijde, Belgium. Stybar has promised to combine cyclo-cross racing with road cycling so even if he has a quieter winter, we can expect him to defend his title in the Belgian sand dunes.
| Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic) | 1:06:37 | |
| 2 | Sven Nys (Belgium) | 0:00:18 | |
| 3 | Kevin Pauwels (Belgium) | 0:01:15 | |
| 4 | Francis Mourey (France) | 0:01:16 | |
| 5 | Philipp Walsleben (Germany) | 0:01:18 | |
| 6 | Klaas Vantornout (Belgium) | 0:01:23 | |
| 7 | Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy) | 0:01:51 | |
| 8 | Bart Wellens (Belgium) | 0:02:01 | |
| 9 | Christian Heule (Switzerland) | 0:02:03 | |
| 10 | Tom Meeusen (Belgium) | ||
| 11 | Gerben De Knegt (Netherlands) | ||
| 12 | Jonathan Page (United States Of America) | 0:02:04 | |
| 13 | John Gadret (France) | 0:02:14 | |
| 14 | Petr Dlask (Czech Republic) | 0:02:16 | |
| 15 | Steve Chainel (France) | 0:02:32 | |
| 16 | Jeremy Powers (United States Of America) | 0:02:35 | |
| 17 | Bart Aernouts (Belgium) | 0:02:38 | |
| 18 | Marcel Wildhaber (Switzerland) | 0:02:39 | |
| 19 | Mariusz Gil (Poland) | 0:02:54 | |
| 20 | José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spain) | 0:02:55 | |
| 21 | Egoitz Murgoitio Rekalde (Spain) | 0:03:55 | |
| 22 | Martin Zlamalik (Czech Republic) | 0:03:56 | |
| 23 | Christoph Pfingsten (Germany) | 0:04:16 | |
| 24 | Niels Albert (Belgium) | 0:04:28 | |
| 25 | Sascha Weber (Germany) | 0:04:31 | |
| 26 | Emil Lindgren (Sweden) | 0:04:33 | |
| 27 | James Driscoll (United States Of America) | 0:04:57 | |
| 28 | Ondrej Bambula (Czech Republic) | 0:05:00 | |
| 29 | Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez (Spain) | ||
| 30 | Thijs Van Amerongen (Netherlands) | 0:05:01 | |
| -1lap | Cristian Cominelli (Italy) | ||
| -1lap | Isaac Suarez Fernandez (Spain) | ||
| -1lap | Magnus Darvell (Sweden) | ||
| -2laps | Ian Field (Great Britain) | ||
| -3laps | Marek Cichosz (Poland) | ||
| -3laps | Eddy Van Ijzendoorn (Netherlands) | ||
| -3laps | Johannes Sickmueller (Germany) | ||
| -4laps | Jody Crawforth (Great Britain) | ||
| -4laps | René Birkenfeld (Germany) | ||
| -4laps | Vladimir Kyzivat (Czech Republic) | ||
| -4laps | Milan Barenyi (Slovakia) | ||
| -4laps | Gusty Bausch (Luxembourg) | ||
| -4laps | David Kasek (Czech Republic) | ||
| -5laps | Paul Oldham (Great Britain) | ||
| -5laps | Jens Westergren (Sweden) | ||
| -5laps | Craig Richey (Canada) | ||
| -5laps | Robert Gavenda (Slovakia) | ||
| -5laps | Marco Bianco (Italy) | ||
| -5laps | Vaclav Metlicka (Slovakia) | ||
| -5laps | Atsushi Maruyama (Japan) | ||
| -6laps | Derrick St John (Canada) | ||
| -6laps | Roland Mörx (Austria) | ||
| -7laps | Tommy Nielsen (Denmark) | ||
| -7laps | Keiichi Tsujiura (Japan) | ||
| DNF | Nicolas Bazin (France) | ||
| DNF | Radomir Simunek (Czech Republic) | ||
| DNF | Fabio Ursi (Italy) | ||
| DNF | Timothy Johnson (United States Of America) | ||
| DNS | Enrico Franzoi (Italy) |
