Sven Nys from Belgium and Marianne Vos from the Netherlands are the 2013 UCI Cyclocross Elite World Champions and here are images from those events.
The women's event was a bit earlier in the day with the ground still mostly frozen, but by the time the men raced in the afternoon it started to become a slippery mess. The fans though were loud, boisterous and happy all day long.
2013 UCI Cyclocross World Championships
Louisville, KY, USA / February 2, 2013
Results
Elite Men
1. Sven Nys (BEL) 1:05:35
2. Klaas Vatornout (BEL) 1:05:37
3. Lars Van Der Haar (NED) 1:06:00
4. Bart Wellens (BEL) 1:06:21
5. Philipp Walsleben (GER) 1:06:24
Elite Women
1. Marianne Vos (NED) 43:00
2. Katie Compton (USA) 44:34
3. Lucie Chainel-Lefevre (FRA) 45:10
4. Katerina Nash (CZE) 45:12
5. Sanne Van Paassen (NED) 45:15
All images © Herbert Krabel / slowtwitch.com
Marianne Vos took charge from the gun.
Katie Compton on the other hand had a slower start and hovered around 7th place early on.
The field was quite spread out early on.
Meredith Miller's day did not go as expected.
Slowly and steadily Compton moved on up.
There were all kinds of fans in costumes like this one who came with a large group from Iowa. They drove 13 hours to see this event.
Katerina Nash and Lucie Chainel-Lefevre had a tough battle.
Marianne Vos was all alone up front and was very smooth on the way to the 2013 Cyclocross Worlds title.
Katie Compton goes over the stairs on the way to second place.
Signs of a good day in the mud.
Sven Nys looked very calm as he rolled up towards the start.
Czech Martin Bina and French Francis Mourey took the early lead, and Mourey eventually got a nice gap.
The Belgians though rode very smart and always near the front.
Before too long Nys and Vanornout took complete control.
The cambered sections started to become quite slippery.
German Philipp Walsleben on the way to 5th place.
Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez does not seem to enjoy the snow and the sand pit.
Lars Van Der Haar from the Netherlands was a frozen muddy mess, but he earned the bronze medal in Louisville.
Hop Belgium.
Bart Aernouts is not related to the UPlace triathlete Bart Aernouts.
