Zdenek Stybar looking to the Classics
Unbeaten cyclo-cross World Champion, Zdenek Stybar, has announced that this may be his last season in cycling’s winter sport.
He is fresh off his victory at the second of six cyclo-cross World Cups, his seventh win in as many races, but the 24-year-old German has started to see boredom in his future.
"Every winter is a copy of the previous one. The chance is real that I will become bored with the cross scene. You set a goal, achieve it, and then look for new challenges."
Some of those new challenges are the Spring Classics, though he also has ambitions in mountain biking, including the 2012 Olympics.
"First, I want to take part in the mountain bike race at the Olympics in London. Not as a tourist, but for a result. With that same feeling, I think about the road."
Stybar won the first World Cup and continued his unbeaten season at last weekend second Cup in his home country of the Czech Republic. If he makes the transfer to the ProTour, he will be following in the footsteps of recent mover Lars Boom, and the third
top young cyclo-cross rider of recent years, Niels Albert, has hinted that he may not be far behind.
"The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix play in my head," said Stybar. "I was able to sign with Telenet Fidea for three years, with Sunweb Revor too, but the Tour of Flanders is my dream race. It's complex. Sure, I will do well in terms of making money if
I stick with cross, or do I invest in my career?"
The young rider has already been offered several long-term contracts with some of the top teams in the sport, but he would rather wait for an offer from a road team.
"A ProTeam that gives me the chance to take a stab at the Spring Classics and also allows me to go back in November for some cross races without regard to the standings - that would be the ideal combination. Now, I just have to find that team."
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