2012 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's elite race

This event was held on Sunday 29 January 2012 as part of the 2012 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. Ten laps had to be completed, totalling up to 29.44 kilometre.

Men's Elite Cyclo-cross Race
2012 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships
Race details
DatesJanuary 29, 2012 (2012-01-29)
Stages1
Distance29.44 km (18.29 mi)
Winning time1h 06' 07" (26.72 km/h or 16.60 mph)
Medalists
   Gold  Niels Albert (Belgium)
   Silver  Rob Peeters (Belgium)
   Bronze  Kevin Pauwels (Belgium)

Summary

In the weeks before the race, four favourites emerged: Sven Nys, who has been considered a favourite on about every race since he became a professional, Kevin Pauwels, who had won the World Cup the week before, Zdeněk Štybar, the World Champion of the two previous years and Niels Albert, who had a lousy season, but is known to be great in the sand.

Albert started very quickly with Štybar right behind him. However halfway round the first lap Albert was already alone while Štybar got caught up by the pack. A lap later Pauwels had left the others and was gaining on Albert, but never actually got there. Meanwhile, in the background, the five other Belgian riders were together with Štybar hanging at the end of that group.

By lap four, Nys had joined Pauwels in the chase on Albert who had kept on widening the gap. Their combined efforts were not enough as the gap kept on growing while from behind the four other Belgians, with an impressive Rob Peeters, were slowly gaining ground. The riders from other countries were nowhere to be seen.

Albert kept on going solo till the end and took home his second World Championship title. The chasing group consisted completely of the six other Belgians. Tom Meeusen and Rob Peeters were looking the best, but Meeusen fell in the sand in the last lap. Peeters did keep his stability and got a silver medal, Pauwels completed the podium. Nys ended as the last Belgian, the chase on Albert had destroyed him.

Ranking

RankCyclistTime
 Niels Albert (BEL) 1h 06' 07"
 Rob Peeters (BEL) + 24"
 Kevin Pauwels (BEL) + 30"
4  Tom Meeusen (BEL) + 34"
5  Bart Aernouts (BEL) + 35"
6  Klaas Vantornout (BEL) + 1'09"
7  Sven Nys (BEL) + 1'11"
8  Radomír Šimůnek (CZE) + 2'15"
9  Philipp Walsleben (GER) + 2'24"
10  Simon Zahner (SUI) + 2'31"
11  Steve Chainel (FRA) + 2'37"
12  Francis Mourey (FRA) + 2'48"
13  Zdeněk Štybar (CZE) + 3'17"
14  Aurélien Duval (FRA) + 3'41"
15  Niels Wubben (NED) s.t.
16  Julien Taramarcaz (SUI) + 3'42"
17  Gerben De Knegt (NED) s.t.
18  Ryan Trebon (USA) + 4'02"
19  Marcel Meisen (GER) + 4'06"
20  José Antonio Hermida (ESP) s.t.
21  Twan Van Den Brand (NED) + 4'07"
22  Mariusz Gil (POL) + 4'22"
23  Thijs Van Amerongen (NED) + 4'40"
24  Christoph Pfingsten (GER) + 5'10"
25  Christian Heule (SUI) - 1 LAP
26  Jeremy Powers (USA) - 2 LAPS
27  Marcel Wildhaber (GER) - 2 LAPS
28  Enrico Franzoi (ITA) - 2 LAPS
29  John Gadret (FRA) - 2 LAPS
30  Jiri Polnicky (CZE) - 2 LAPS
31  Martin Zlámalík (CZE) - 2 LAPS
32  Mitchell Huenders (NED) - 3 LAPS
33  Vladimir Kyzivat (CZE) - 3 LAPS
34  Timothy Johnson (USA) - 3 LAPS
35  Isaac Suarez Fernandez (ESP) - 3 LAPS
36  Ian Field (GBR) - 3 LAPS
37  Petr Dlask (CZE) - 3 LAPS
38  Clément Bourgoin (FRA) - 3 LAPS
39  Sascha Weber (GER) - 3 LAPS
40  Marco Ponta (ITA) - 3 LAPS
41  Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga (ESP) - 3 LAPS
42  James Driscoll (USA) - 3 LAPS
43  Christopher Jones (USA) - 5 LAPS
44  Mirko Tabacchi (ITA) - 5 LAPS
45  Yu Takenouchi (JPN) - 5 LAPS
46  Magnus Darvell (SWE) - 5 LAPS
47  Martin Haring (SVK) - 5 LAPS
48  Gusty Bausch (LUX) - 5 LAPS
49  Christian Helmig (LUX) - 5 LAPS
50  Cristian Cominelli (ITA) - 5 LAPS
51  Craig Richey (CAN) - 6 LAPS
52  Aitor Hernández (ESP) - 6 LAPS
53  Vaclav Metlicka (SVK) - 6 LAPS
54  Daniel Geismayr (AUT) - 6 LAPS
55  Keiichi Tsujiura (JPN) - 6 LAPS
56  Karl Heinz Gollinger (AUT) - 7 LAPS
57  Lewis Rattray (AUS) - 7 LAPS
58  Robert Gehbauer (AUT) - 7 LAPS
59  David Quist (NOR) - 8 LAPS
  • Official website
  • "Albert rijdt solo naar wereldtitel in Koksijde" (in Dutch). Sporza. 29 January 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
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