Aernouts wins in the mud

Courtesy of Rich Wanninger

Belgian Bart Aernouts won the junior World cyclocross championship on Sunday January 30, beating the USA's Walker Ferguson by 15 seconds after the two had duelled all day. Czech rider, David Kasek was third, leading home a bunch of eight riders.

Ferguson was extremely happy with his result, although he had to fight for it: "The win last week (at Wetzikon) boosted my confidence. Winning a medal at the World Championships was a dream going into Wetzikon. After winning, it (winning a medal) was not that far out of reach. I was hoping for top five.

"The start of the race was kind of crazy. There was a crash in front of me, which forced me into the barriers I focused on catching back up with lead group, and by the second lap I was in position to catch up with the leaders.

Ferguson and Aernouts were clear after two of the five laps, and Aernouts said: "I had a hard time when the American was leading. It was tough to come back to him on the road, but I managed it on the running."

"I lost it (the gold medal) when he made a bike change," said Ferguson who was ploughing through the mud of the course as Aernouts switched to the pits that were laid out like those in Formula One car racing.

The ground there was not cut up like the main track, and after changing bikes the Belgian emerged with a lead that had grown to 15 seconds at the finish.

Ferguson follows on from Matt Kelly's junior gold and Tim Johnson's under-23 bronze of last year World championships in Poprad, Slovakia. Kelly, the two-time defending national junior cyclo-cross champion, also captured the Wetzikon prior to his world championship medal. Kelly elected not to compete at this year's worlds, while Johnson, who served as an assistant coach for the United States, was sidelined following a broken collarbone suffered in competition earlier in January.

A year ago, Ferguson finished 28th at the junior world championships. He also competed at the Junior World Mountain Bike Championships in Are, Sweden.

"I am still excited about the silver medal," said Ferguson who plans to split his season 50-50 between road racing and mountain biking.

Results

1 Bart Aernouts (Bel)              41.06
2 Walker Ferguson (USA)             0.15
3 David Kasek (Cze)                 0.47
4 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned)
5 Pieter Ghyllbert (Bel)
6 Koen De Kort (Ned)
7 Vladimir Kyziuat (Cze)            0.50
8 Sven Hašssler (Ger)
9 Enrico Franzoi (Ita)              0.51
10 Klaas Vantornout (Bel)           0.52
11 Jehan De Bont (Ned)              1.06
12 Gilbert Obrist (Swi)             1.37
13 Wesley Van Der Linden (Bel)      1.48
14 Pierre Bernard Vaillant (Fra)    1.53
15 Geert Wellens (Bel)              2.06
16 Radomir Simunek (Cze)            2.07
17 Llam Killeen (Gbr)
18 Piotr Formicki (Pol)             2.36
19 Mariusz Gil (Pol)                2.39
20 S‚bastien Minard (Fra)           2.41
21 Martin Bina (Cze)                2.43
22 Toby Swanson (USA)               2.45
23 Jan Kunta (Cze)                  3.00
24 Francesco Cingolani (Ita)        3.02
25 Roger Jakob (Swi)                3.03
26 Gerben De Vries (Ned)            3.05
27 Steve Chainel (Fra)              3.07
28 Philip Spencer (Gbr)             3.12
29 Justin Thompson (USA)
30 Ludovic Le Magourou (Fra)        3.19
31 Josh Anthony (USA)               3.22
32 Marc Ernster (Lux)               3.24
33 Przemyslaw Warzybok (Pol)        3.27
34 Daniel Wasiewicz (Pol)           3.31
35 Jos Antonio Diez Arriola (Spa)   3.51
36 Johnatan Tabotta (Ita)           4.07
37 Christopher Skinner (Gbr)        4.09
38 Andrea Masciarelli (Ita)         4.15
39 Alan Obye (USA)                  4.17
40 Hidde Bos (Ned)                  4.19
41 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn)         4.44
42 Daniel Parpan (Swi)
43 Daniel Hufnagel (Aut)
44 Roger Schuppli (Swi)             5.03
45 Koldobika Aguirre Arresti (Spa)  5.05
46 Marcin Wider (Pol)               5.15
47 Aitor Hernandez (Spa)            5.26
48 Matthew Kipling (Gbr)
49 Benjamin Schwarz (Ger)
50 Dusan Orgonik (Svk)              5.55
51 Ben Wurth (Lux)                  6.06
52 Oleksandr Gerashchenko (Ukr)     6.06
53 Julen Zubero (Spa)               6.15
54 Marian Hecl (Svk)                6.24
55 Kazunobu Kuwazawa (Jpn)          6.45
56 Gorka Mendizabal (Spa)           6.53
57 Juraj Cmarada (Svk)              7.05
58 Richard Bowater (Gbr)            7.05
59 Leo Karstens (Ger)               7.25
60 Ladislav Sidlo (Svk)             7.37
61 Nik-otto Kummer (Ger)           10.00