Before the start snow started to come down and a fantastic battle unfolded in the tough weather conditions. In the first corner Eva Lechner (Ita), silver medalist last year, went down taking several riders along with her and was out of contention.
Lucie Chainel-Lefèvre (France) took the initial lead creating a gap on a chase group that contained all of the top favourites except for Lechner and Katie Compton (USA). Halfway through the second lap Ferrand Prévot closed the gap on her compatriot and was soon joined by Cant. Just behind were Marianne Vos (Ned), Nikki Harris (Gbr) and local favourite Katerina Nash (Czech Republic). Meanwhile Dyck was slowly moving up through the field.
Ferrand-Prévot punched again and only Cant could respond as the chase group kept them in sight, but soon they were on their own at the front with one more lap remaining. Nash went down as Vos took over third making a bike change near the end as Harris profited from Nash’s mishap to sit in fourth. Canada’s Dyck found herself in 13th and was having a strong day on the bike.
Cant took over the lead putting Ferrand-Prévot under pressure as the two duked it out. The duo remained close to each other but near the end Ferrand-Prévot took control as she passed Cant taking the inside line on a sharp corner.
A small miscue by the Belgium saw Ferrand-Prévot attack and she gained a small gap. Cant recovered quickly but now they were on the finishing pavement where Ferrand-Prévot had the upper hand and help off her rival’s charge for the rainbow jersey. Vos crossed the line in third place at 15 seconds behind with Harris in fourth ahead of Nash, the Czech champion in 5th.
Canada’s Dyck moved up to cross the line in 12th for a superb result at only her second CX Worlds. We caught up with her post-race for a brief interview on her stellar day in Tabor.
Is this your first time at the CX Worlds ?
Mical Dyck: This is my second CX Worlds – Louisville two years ago was my first
How were conditions today – it looked cold and slippery ?
MD : The announcer put it best as “butter on ice”. Super slippery mud layer on top of frozen ground and ruts. It was a very technical course and just above freezing with light snow.
How did you find the Worlds course – it looked challenging?
MD : I really enjoyed it, very technical which suits me better than a flat-out horsepower course. A lot of corners and a lot of mud.
Did things unfold as you expected – tell us how your race went today ?
MD: Last row call up so I was fourth last – that didn’t put me in a good spot off the start. The start was fast and downhill so I couldn’t move up like I usually do. I kept calm during the race, people were dropping in the corners all over the place. I felt really strong and kept it clean.
Did you know you were in the top 15… ?
MD : I didn’t realize how far up I was until the fourth lap and I snuck a look at the leader board near the lap counter….at that point I think I was 13th
How did you prepare for the Worlds ? Talk about last weekend’s World Cup…
MD : I’ve been doing a lot of hard training since my last race at the beginning of December. My whole season hasn’t been stellar, but I knew I could go faster than I have been. Last week’s World Cup was a great way to blow out all the non-racing in my legs and get my body over the jet lag. This week I spent some time watching old footage of the Tabor course and I was really excited.
What’s it like racing CX in Europe vs Canada ?
MD : Completely different. We never get that many women in a Canadian race for one. And everyone in so fast! You are fighting for every position from top 15 to just finishing. European racers seem to be a lot more aggressive too, so it’s more of an elbows-out game.
Any shout out to fans, friends, family and sponsors back home ?
MD : Huge, huge, huge thank you to everyone that helped to get me here. After much trepidation, I put out a GoFundMe page to help raise money and was absolutely astonished with how supportive the community around me is….or maybe everyone just likes to watch me suffer :). Thank you to Regan (my mechanic and parent in crime) for keeping me going!
And a huge shout-out to my sponsors Stan’s NoTubes, Kenda Tires, Shimano, Lazer Helmets, Ridley Bikes, Oakley Canada, Rumble Drinks, Horst Engineering, Mad Alchemy, Pro City Cycles, Broadmead Orthopeadic 🙂
Results
1. Pauline Ferrand Prevot (France) 0:49:10
2. Sanne Cant (Belgium) 0:01
3. Marianne Vos (Netherlands) 0:15
4. Nikki Harris (Great Britain) 0:21
5. Katerina Nash (Czech Republic) 0:36
6. Lucie Chainel-Lefevre (France) 0:56
7. Helen Wyman (Great Britain) 1:21
8. Ellen Van Loy (Belgium) 1:35
9. Christine Majerus (Luxembourg) 1:54
10. Sophie De Boer (Netherlands) 1:56
11. Caroline Mani (France) 2:13
12. Mical Dyck (Canada) 2:19
13. Kaitlin Antonneau (United States Of America) 2:31
14. Alice Maria Arzuffi (Italy) 2:40
15. Sabrina Stultiens (Netherlands) 2:51
16. Martina Mikulaskova (Czech Republic) 3:01
17. Sanne Van Paassen (Netherlands) 3:07
18. Loes Sels (Belgium) 3:08
19. Nadja Heigl (Austria) 3:14
20. Rachel Lloyd (United States Of America)
21. Pavla Havlikova (Czech Republic) 3:19
22. Rocio Del Alba Garcia Martinez (Spain) 3:28
23. Jolien Verschueren (Belgium) 3:52
24. Jessica Lambracht (Germany) 4:08
25. Crystal Anthony (United States Of America) 4:15
26. Janka Keseg Stevkova (Slovakia) 4:21
27. Katherine Compton (United States Of America) 4:33
28. Amira Mellor (Great Britain) 4:49
29. Lisa Heckmann (Germany)
30. Asa Maria Erlandsson (Sweden) 4:58
31. Eva Lechner (Italy) 5:07
32. Marlene Petit (France) 5:15
33. Aida Nuno (Spain) 5:21
34. Hannah Payton (Great Britain) 5:38
35. Olga Wasiuk (Poland) 5:45
36. Nikola Noskova (Czech Republic) 5:48
37. Paula Gorycka (Poland) 6:10
38. Meredith Miller (United States Of America) 6:28
39. Carolina Gomez (Argentina) 6:31
40. Elle Anderson (United States Of America) 6:36
41. Chiara Teocchi (Italy) 7:03
42. Ayako Toyooka (Japan) 7:25
43. Karla Stepanova (Czech Republic) 8:37
44. Lindsay Gorrell (Australia) 9:05
45. Livia Hanesova (Slovakia)