This event was held on 2 February 2014 as part of the

2014 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships The 2014 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships is the World Championship for cyclo-cross for the season 2013–14. It took place in Hoogerheide, Netherlands on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 February 2014. Hoogerheide is also the place where the Grand Prix ...

Hoogerheide Hoogerheide is a village in the municipality of Woensdrecht, North Brabant, Netherlands. The name "Hoogerheide" means "High Heath" in English. The Grand Prix Adri van der Poel cyclo-cross race is held annually in Hoogerheide. The village was firs ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Participants must be men born in 1991 or before. It was won by

Zdeněk Štybar Zdeněk Štybar (; born 11 December 1985) is a Czech former professional cyclist, who rode professionally in cyclo-cross and road bicycle racing between 2005 and 2024 for , the and . In the early part of his career, Štybar prioritised competin ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Race report

Sven Nys Sven Nys (; born 17 June 1976) is a former professional cyclist competing in cyclo-cross and mountain bike. With two world championships, seven world cups, and over 140 competitive victories, he is considered one of the best cyclo-cross racers of ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

was the big favourite before the race, having dominated the races of the month leading up to it. Beside him were

Lars van der Haar Lars van der Haar (born 23 July 1991 in Amersfoort, Netherlands) is a Dutch professional cyclo-cross and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . Career Van der Haar joined the development team of the professional squad, fo ...

, winner of the World Cup, and Belgian

Tom Meeusen Tom Meeusen (born 7 November 1988) is a Belgian cyclo-cross and road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Cyclo-cross team Group Hens–Maes Containers. Major results ;2005–2006 : 1st Overall Junior Superprestige ::1st Ruddervoorde : ...

, the only one to somewhat keep equal footing to Nys as well as winner of the last World Cup race (where Nys did not participate). Outsiders were

Francis Mourey Francis Mourey (born 8 December 1980) is a French former professional cyclo-cross and road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2017. He won the 2013 Tro-Bro Léon, leading home an clean sweep of the podium as teammates Joha ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as well as other Belgians:

Niels Albert Niels Albert (born 5 February 1986 in Bonheiden, near Antwerp, Belgium) is a former professional cyclo-cross racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing incl ...

, winner in Hoogerheide in the 2009 World Championship,

Kevin Pauwels Kevin Pauwels (born 12 April 1984 in Ekeren) is a Belgium, Belgian former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2019 for the and teams. Pauwels retired on 24 February 2019 after winning the Sluitingsprijs Oostmal ...

, always good on fast and dry tracks, and

Klaas Vantornout Klaas Vantornout (born 19 May 1982 in Torhout) is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2018 for the and teams. Vantornout was the winner of the Belgian National Cyclo-cross Championships in 201 ...

, silver medal the year before in

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. The big unknown factor was

. Touted by Nys as being his main opponent, the World Champion of 2010 and 2011 had only taken part in six races during the season and was only taking part in the World Championship as an aside in his preparation for the road season. Due to his bad place in the UCI ranking, Štybar was only placed on the fourth start row. The race started with Mourey immediately trying one of his fast attacks. Behind him the Czech

Martin Bína Martin Bína (born 21 May 1983) is a Czech former cyclo-cross cyclist. Major results Cyclo-cross ;2000–2001 : 1st UCI World Junior Championships ;2001–2002 : 1st National Under-23 Championships ;2002–2003 : 1st National Under-23 Cham ...

took a tumble, holding up the entire pack, and gave Mourey a few seconds for free which he quickly lost again. Albert had a usual terrible start and never recovered. Štybar on the other hand had an amazing start, joining the head of the race halfway the first lap and, showing off his great form, attacked from the head of the race by the end of the first lap. Only Nys, van der Haar and Mourey were able to follow. Mourey didn't last much longer though, as he got dropped on Štybar's next attack. Van der Haar also had trouble with the pace of the two others and halfway through the race it was clear he too would have to settle with aiming at the podium. Either Nys or Štybar was going to win their third rainbow jersey. They stayed closely together until the second to last lap when Štybar slipped and Nys gained a gap of a few seconds. It didn't last long however as Nys also fell while taking a turn and the two of them went into their last lap together. Štybar managed to get ahead of Nys in a section he knew Nys to be better at. A smart move as it turned out, Nys had to get off his bike after badly taking a turn, giving Štybar a six-second lead. Nys managed to bring that down to four seconds, but then, realizing he wasn't going to close that gap in the final fast section of the race, threw his towel in the ring. Štybar won his third title, Nys was content with what he still achieved at his age. Meanwhile, in the back, a lot had happened in the battle for bronze. Van der Haar looked like he would be getting his second bronze in a row for quite a while, but then he got passed by Vantornout who, in his turn, got passed by Pauwels later in the race. Van der Haar dropped even further after that as Meeusen also passed him to take the fifth spot.

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2014 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Men's elite race Men's elite race UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's elite race