January 27/07 11:50 am - Cyclo-cross World Championships: U23 Men report & results

Posted by Editoress on 01/27/07
 

Cyclo-cross World Championships Hooglede-Gits, Belgium

Photos from the U23 Men's race

"Last year I was not happy with second."

Lars Boom (Netherlands) made up for his year-long disappointment by taking the U23 title at the Cyclo-cross Worlds in this, his final year as an Espoir. In the process, he evened up the scoreboard with arch rival Belgium, who had taken the Junior men's title earlier in the day. Belgium's Niels Albert took the silver and Roman Villa of France the bronze, while defending champion Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic) could manage no better than fourth. Top North American was Jamey Driscoll of the USA in 36th place, the only North American not to be lapped by Boom.

The race started blazingly fast, with Boom and Albert heading straight to the front of the 63 rider field. By the end of the first lap the race was shattered, with Boom, Albert and Villa clear of a chase group of 10, including Stybar.

A lap later, Boom was on his own, some 10 seconds in front of Albert, who could not match the Dutchman's pace. Villa dangled just behind Albert, while Stybar had shed the rest of the chasers and was starting to move up. But the three chasers were in a race for the remaining two podium spots, since Boom was in a league of his own.

Each lap the gap grew - to over a minute and a half - until on the final one he was able to slow down and wave to his fans; celebrating with half a lap remaining.

"After the descent (on the first lap) I saw some gaps forming, so I went hard." explained the new world champion. "I went hard in all the places that it was possible to go fast, and I think that made the difference."

It wasn't just the 'fast' places - Boom was noticeably quicker plowing through the man-made sand pit at the far end of the course; an energy sapping 50 metres that forced many riders to dismount.

"I came to win, but he was better." stated Albert. "Today I had a normal good day, but I needed a super day to beat Lars."

Race Notes

- Kyle Douglas was the top Canadian finisher, in 50th place. He was lapped on the sixth (second to last) lap as Boom powered through the field. Despite this, Douglas was upbeat about his first experience at the Worlds. "It was fantastic, what a fun course. There was some traffic at the beginning, but I just had to go my own pace and get into a rhythm. The only real problem I had was on the third lap, when I went into a fence pretty hard and whacked my (right) hand good. It's pretty sore now after the race. I'll be back next year, for sure."