Canada’s Disera 19th as Van der Poel Repeats as UCI CX Worlds Junior Men’s Champ

Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) © Cor Vos

February 04, 2013 (Louisville, Kentucky) – The Junior men’s race was the first event of a very full day of racing at the 2013 UCI CX World Championships in Louisville, KY on Saturday. It was also the coldest, with sub-freezing temperatures and a dusting of fresh snow on the course. But defending champ Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) took it all in stride, seizing control from the start to secure his second consecutive rainbow jersey.

Mathieu Van Der Poel wins © Cor Vos

“I felt good from the beginning and the snow was definitely good for me because it was more technical and that is always good for me,” said van der Poel post-race.

Van der Poel’s countryman, Martijn Budding, was able to hold onto the silver medal, crossing the line solo, 57 seconds behind the winner, despite being hunted by three Belgian riders, Nicolas Cleppe, Yannick Peeters, and Quintan Hermans.

Adam Toupalik (Cze) takes 3rd – one of the few non-Belgian or Dutch racers to podium. © Peter Kraiker/kraikerphoto.com

By the final lap, a storming Adam Toupalik (Czech Republic) had moved up through the field and passed all three Belgians to capture the bronze. The USA’s Logan Owen, who had gunned it up from ninth to third, but faded when the impact of his huge effort set in, was able to regroup and finish a strong fourth to the delight of local fans.

Logan Owen (USA) © Cor Vos

Canada’s Peter Disera was the best-placed Canadian in 19th place, three minutes and 52 seconds off the winning time. It was his second time representing Canada at a World Championship within six months.”I was at the mountain bike world championshpis earlier in September. To come back and be at another world championships representing Canada, it’s amazing,” he said.

Peter Disera (Can) © Peter Kraiker/kraikerphoto.com

Disera went on to describe how he approached his race: “…I just think everything through. I tend to remove emotion from things, I tend to just make it really logical….”

Fellow Canucks Trevor Pearson and Isaac Niles finished in 28th and 30th, respectively, while Neil Symington finished two laps down.

Full results HERE.