In all likelihood, Stybar will not be defending his rainbow jersey at the 2015 UCI World Championship of Cyclocross. © Thomas Van Bracht
With the World Cup in Valkenburg only days away, the past week has been brutal on many elite European riders, some who were planning on racing on Sunday. Sven Nys, failing to show up to Kermiscross van Ardooie from illness, is actually one of the more minor stories in this week of attrition.
Stybar successfully underwent surgery to repair a separated shoulder and torn ligaments that he received after a crash at Kermiscross van Ardooie. It was initially thought that he broke his collarbone, a guess which was dispelled Wednesday evening, but the effects of the crash will still mean a long-term recovery. The accident comes only days after revealing his new Specialized on Facebook:
The current World Champion also suffered a major crash during the Eneco Tour, ending his road season earlier in the year. Originally, many anticipated that he would have a stronger focus on cyclocross this year because of this unfortunate and abrupt close to his racing on the road.
Stybar was not participating in this weekend’s World Cup in Valkenburg. The Kermiscross van Ardooie was one of the few pre-planned cyclocross races he was going to participate in before he fleshed out his schedule for the late-season.
Wietse Bosmans, shown here in his U23 second-place in the 2013 World Championships, will also be out for an undetermined amount of time. © Cyclocross Magazine
According to Cyclocross Magazine’s European contributor Christine Vardaros, Wietse Bosmans, a Belgian cyclocross racer with both a U23 and Junior National Championship to his name, will be out of racing for a while after being diagnosed with Lyme disease. Two years ago, he was the runner up in the U23 World Championships in Louisville, KY, and at his first elite world championship last year in Hoogerheide, he mustered together a top-ten finish after placing seventh in the Belgian National Championships.
Loes Sels has a cracked knee and is out of racing for a while. In last year’s World Championship, she finished seventh, and ended last season with many promising top-ten finishes. Currently, she is ranked 12th best in the world through her UCI standings.
Also according to Vardaros, Klaas Vantornout, 2013 Belgian national champion, did not race in the Kermiscross van Ardooie after being denied his asking price for his start contract. His argument was that he was asking less than half the price he received last year, when he wore the Belgian colors. The organizers of the race explained that their ability to offer higher deals was too low after putting together enough money to pay for Stybar to show up at the start.
Marianne Vos will not show up with her rainbow jersey to her home country’s World Cup. She is instead looking to build towards a late-season run.
