1999 World Junior Cyclocross Championship Sunday, January 31, 1999

Report: The Americans had great joy by lunchtime in the freezing Slovakian city of Poprad on Sunday. They had two riders in the top five and the gold medal in their keep. 18-year old Mattew Kelly defeated heavily-backed favourite Belgian Sven Vanthourenhout in a thrilling finale. He finished one second ahead. The victory shocked on-lookers. The Belgians were hoping for a clean sweep of the Championships. Under-23 favourite Bart Wellens had streeted the opposition the day before. On Sunday afternoon, the Belgian team had many in-form riders vying for the Elite gold - Mario De Clercq, Sven Nijs, and Erwin Vervecken. So given that Sven Vanthourenhout had won 26 junior cross races this season already he was not considered to be threatened by any of the other riders. However, a look at recent race form would have given Kelly some hope. He won in Switzerland last week and he said he was in good form coming into the Worlds. The team was also on a high following the bronze medal victory for Tim Johnson in the Under-23 race. That was the first world championship medal in cyclo cross for any American rider. The 16.48 kilometre race over 7 laps was held in freezing and snowbound conditions. The organisers had excelled, however, and kept the parcours free of snow. It was a frozen track making it ideal for the faster riders in the field. The downside being that is was very slippery. As the race entered the final lap Mattew Kelly and Sven Vanthourenhout were clear with their fellow breakaway rider Dutchman Thijs Verhagen falling behind. Kelly attacked the Belgian and powered away out of the last corner to hold a narrow advantage on a fast finishing Vanthourenhout. Verhagen had blown and finished 12 seconds behind. The average speed of 26.415 km/h was considered fast. Another American rider, William Friskhorn was 5th at 1.04 being defeated in a sprint for 4th place by Czech Republic rider David Kasek. So in the 1999 Championships the USA team took two medals - a gold and a bronze - their first ever. Results, 7 laps, 16.48 kms: 1. Mattew Kelly (USA) 37.26 (26.415 km/h) 2. Sven Vanthourenhoust (Bel) 0.01 3. Thijs Verhagen (Ned) 0.12 4. David Kasek (Cze) 1.04 5. Wiliam Frishkorn (USA) 1.07 6. Jean-Baptiste Beraud (Fra) 1.07 7. Tim Van Nuffel (Bel) 1.22 8. Wouter Bunning (Ned) 1.28 9. Ronald Heigl (Swi) 1.35 10. Hannes Genze (Ger) 1.42 11. Sebastien Da Silva (Fra) 1.50 12. Pavel Linet (Cze) 2.08 13. Jochen Kass (Ger) 2.12 14. Tim Pauwels (Bel) 2.24 15. Piotr Formicki (Pol) 2.26 16. Emmanuel Lahonta (Fra) 2.33 17. Josef Soukup (Cze) 2.33 18. Vladimir Kyzivat (Cze) 2.37 19. Gilbert Obrist (Swi) 2.42 20. Pavel Bartos (Cze) 2.44 21. Dirk Reichl (Ger) 2.46 22. Maxim Gogolev (Rus) 2.46 23. Branislav Stejskal (Svk) 2.55 24. Marcin Wider (Pol) 2.55 25. Marco Baggenstos (Swi) 3.05 26. Stefan Horber (Swi) 3.10 27. Przemyslaw Warzybok (Pol) 3.17 28. Walker Ferguson (USA) 3.22 29. Pablo San Jose Herrero (Spa) 3.24 30. Erik Verrijt (Ned) 3.40 31. Sebastien Minard (Fra) 3.42 32. Kim Petersen (Den) 4.01 33. Iban Mayoz (Spa) 4.01 34. Pieter Ghyllbert (Bel) 4.12 35. Markus Spanke (Ger) 4.14 36. Piotr Skrobisz (Pol) 4.15 37. Matteo Lostuzzo (Ita) 4.25 38. Wesley Van Der Linden (Bel) 4.29 39. Leo Karstens (Ger) 4.33 40. Peter Simora (Svk) 4.36 41. Michael Molbaek (Den) 4.44 42. Radoslaw Radkiewicz (Pol) 4.46 43. Michael Muller (Swi) 4.56 44. Paul Lally (Gbr) 5.00 45. Milan Branicky (Svk) 5.04 46. Shaun Snodden (Gbr) 5.05 47. Ben Saunders (Gbr) 5.14 48. Robert Van Spanje (Ned) 5.31 49. Iker Ortiz Etxarri (Spa) 5.35 50. Marian Hecl (Svk) 5.37 51. Wiliam Skinner (USA) 5.49 52. Daniel Hufnagel (Aut) 6.16 53. David Estirado Minana (Spa) 6.28 54. Richard Bowater (Gbr) 6.33 55. Oleksandr Troyan (Ukr) 6.33 56. Viktor Petrik (Svk) 6.39 57. Olivier Cox (Gbr) 6.40 58. Marc Bastian (Lux) 6.54 59. Ronald Bastemeijer (Ned) 6.55 At one lap: 60. Haitz Ortiz Toleretxipi (Spa) 61. Balasz Erdelyi (Hun) Abandoned: Michele Sbetta (Ita) Zoltan Csomor (Hun) Gabor Timar (Hun) Kazunobu Kuwazawa (Jpn) Did not Start: Emiliano Farina (Ita)