by Bart Hazen of the Daily Peloton
Photos by Joe Sales
German Champion and World Cup winner Philipp Walsleben (BKCP-PowerPlus) has won the final U23 race for the World Cup in Roubaix today. Walsleben who is dominating the whole u23 scene this year won with a big gap on his competitors. France Aurelien Duval and Czech Ondrej Bambula completed the podium.
Surprising Ondrej Bambula had the best start of all. He attacked in the beginning and created a gap on his competitors. Bit by bit Walsleben came closer and over halfway the race the German showed up in front. He immediately attacked and the Czech wasn’t able to follow.
In the final lap France’s Aurelien Duval bridged up to Bambula and outsprinted him for the second place 56 seconds down on winner Walsleben.
For Walsleben, who won all the U23 World Cups this season, it was his 18th win of the season. He is also the top favorite for the World title in Hoogerheide on January 31.
Belgian Vincent Baestaens won the sprint for the fourth place from Guillaume Perrot and Kenneth van Compernolle.
Nicholas Weighall, the only starter from the USA, finished as 45th, one lap down on Walsleben. Full results below.
Photo Gallery:
Full Results:
| Place | Bib | Rider | Country | Time |
| 1 | 28 | WALSLEBEN Philipp | GER | 0:51:03 |
| 2 | 10 | DUVAL Aurelien | FRA | +00:56 |
| 3 | 36 | BAMBULA Ondrej | CZE | +00:58 |
| 4 | 4 | BAESTAENS Vincent | BEL | +01:31 |
| 5 | 59 | PERROT Guillaume | FRA | +01:32 |
| 6 | 2 | VAN COMPERNOLLE Kenneth | BEL | +01:32 |
| 7 | 30 | MEISEN Marcel | GER | +01:39 |
| 8 | 16 | COMINELLI Cristian | ITA | +01:43 |
| 9 | 5 | AERNOUTS Jim | BEL | +01:43 |
| 10 | 13 | BOULO Matthieu | FRA | +01:43 |
| 11 | 47 | SZCZEPANIAK Kacper | POL | +01:53 |
| 12 | 22 | SINKELDAM Ramon | NED | +02:00 |
| 13 | 23 | VAN POPPEL Boy | NED | +02:00 |
| 14 | 20 | HUENDERS Mitchell | NED | +02:11 |
| 15 | 8 | BERTHOLET Quentin | BEL | +02:12 |
| 16 | 39 | POLNICKY Jiri | CZE | +02:41 |
| 17 | 3 | MEEUSEN Tom | BEL | +02:50 |
| 18 | 50 | REPINSKI Tomasz | POL | +03:01 |
| 19 | 31 | PFINGSTEN Christoph | GER | +03:02 |
| 20 | 46 | KONWA Marek | POL | +03:13 |
| 21 | 18 | SILVESTRI Elia | ITA | +03:22 |
| 22 | 65 | GRAND Arnaud | SUI | +03:25 |
| 23 | 15 | BOURGOIN Clément | FRA | +03:31 |
| 24 | 64 | TRENTIN Matteo | ITA | +03:38 |
| 25 | 21 | VAN DEN BRAND Twan | NED | +03:40 |
| 26 | 6 | ADAMS Joeri | BEL | +03:55 |
| 27 | 61 | GAVENDA Robert | SVK | +04:03 |
| 28 | 52 | FLETCHER David | GBR | +04:11 |
| 29 | 57 | GIZZI Aurelien | FRA | +04:21 |
| 30 | 43 | TARAMARCAZ Julien | SUI | +04:32 |
| 31 | 24 | VAN EMPEL Micki | NED | +04:36 |
| 32 | 49 | JANISZEWSKI Sylwester | POL | +04:38 |
| 33 | 60 | TABOURY Thibault | FRA | +04:39 |
| 34 | 42 | BENEY Romain | SUI | +04:54 |
| 35 | 29 | WEBER Sascha | GER | +05:13 |
| 36 | 56 | CESSOT Jonathan | FRA | +05:29 |
| 37 | 40 | MENGER David | CZE | +05:30 |
| 38 | 26 | VAN DER HORST Geert | NED | +05:37 |
| 39 | 44 | SCHERZ Valentin | SUI | +05:44 |
| 40 | 66 | HERMAN Paul | FRA | +06:30 |
| 41 | 54 | TAKENOUCHI Yu | JPN | +06:50 |
| 42 | 58 | LE BRUN Simon | FRA | -1LAP |
| 43 | 63 | DE PATRE Roberto | ITA | -1LAP |
| 44 | 55 | SCHLECHTER Pit | LUX | -1LAP |
| 45 | 51 | WEIGHALL Nicholas | USA | -2LAP |
| 46 | 67 | KUPEC Peter | SVK | -3LAP |
