Czech rider takes emotional Tabor cyclocross
Radomir Simunek (BKCP-Powerplus) won the Radomir Simunek Memorial race, dedicated to his late father who died last August, in Tabor, Czech Republic. The Czech rider finished 2 seconds clear of German Chrisophe Pfingsen and 11 ahead of Steve Chainel (Bbox Bouygues Telecom).
“I have a fantastic feeling,” said Simunek after the race. “Right from the opening ceremony I was really moved. I thank you all for your support, and I thank the organisers of the event.
“At the beginning of the race I was somehow tied up,” he continued, “but then I was released and everything felt easy for me. My dad would probably not be happy that I went so early, but I was hugely motivated.”
The race began with a first lap move from World champion Zdenek Stybar (Telenet-Fidea) and Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus); the pair was soon joined by Simunek though, and he managed to drop both riders on a curve. He was joined by Pfingstein and the two riders worked well together; the German leading on the asphalt sections with the Czech leading on the dirt.
At the end of the seventh of ten laps, the duo led the chasing group by 30 seconds.
As the leading pair came in to the finish Simunek outsprinted Pfingsten to take an emotional victory. Chainel managed to beat Stybar to third place; the World champion failing to take victory for the first tie this season.
“Radomir deserved this victory for his father,” said Stybar to Sporza, “that was much more important than for me to take my eighth victory.
“I’m very happy for him,” the World champion added, “it was an emotional race.”
Result Radomir Simunek Memorial
1. Radomir Simunek (Cze) BKCP-Powerplus
2. Christophe Pfingsten (Ger) @ 2s
3. Steve Chainel (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom @ 11s
4. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Telenet-Fidea @ 12s
5. Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus @ 18s
6. Pirmin Lang (Swi) @ 19s
7. Ondrej Bambula (Cze) Budvar Tabor @ 20s
8. Christian Heule (Swi) Champion System LBS Team @ 22s
9. Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) @ 26s
10. Martin Zlamalik (Cze) Sunweb-Revor @ 27s