Nash Cruises, Stybar Repeats in Czech National Championship–Full Results, Video

Katerina Nash, shown here in Portland USGP, takes Czech title © Joe Sales

The top competitors in this weekend’s Czech National Championships had a unique advantage to tune-up; the course in Tabor is the same that will be used in three weeks’ time for the World Championships.

The Elite Women’s winner, Katerina Nash (Luna), who spends the bulk of her season racing in the U.S., has extended her cyclocross season to include some European races to keep her sharp for Worlds since they’re in her home country this year. Zdeněk Štybar (Telenet Fidea) continued his winning ways to keep the championship kit he’s grown accustomed to wearing.

Like much of northern Europe, Tabor’s ‘cross course was covered in ice and snow. That didn’t seem to slow Nash down as she was able to outpace runner-up Pavla Havlíková (AVB Cycling Team) by 46 seconds. Jana Kyptová (Johnson Controls) rounded out the podium at over three minutes down. Nash won the USGP series this season in dominating fashion and hopes to land on the podium at the World Championships.

In the Elite Men’s race, Zdeněk Štybar (Telenet Fidea), one of the top favorites to take the World Championship title away from Niels Albert, drilled the pace on the slick, frozen course from the beginning. His pace shed all pursuers on the second lap and he kept the pressure on. By the time he hit the finish line, Štybar had put 38 seconds into his teammate and second place finisher Petr Dlask and 47 seconds into bronze medalist Martin Bína (Budvar). Bína snagged the last step on the podium in a sprint finale against Martin Zlamalik.

We’ll see what weather is in store for the World Championships, but both Nash and Štybar have again proven that they’re capable technical riders if the snowy trend keeps up in Europe.

Quick Men’s Highlight Video:

Elite Women’s Results:

Elite Men’s Results: