Zdenek Stybar has decided to prolong his 2014 season by a few days before the winter break. The World Cyclocross Champion will close out his season on the road with the Tour de l'Eurometropole; however, he will also take part in the first two cyclocross events for the season, the BPost Bank Trofee Ronse on October 12th and the Ardooie Cyclocross on October 16th.
"The accident I had at the Eneco Tour made me miss the better part of the road season," said Stybar. "This is why at the end of the season I still have the motivation to race. When I was offered the chance to race in the first two cross events of the season I jumped at it. It will be wonderful to wear the rainbow jersey, jump on my Specialized CruX and compete. I can't wait. I have the same feeling you get when you have a convertible car in the garage and you can't wait for the first rays of sun to come out so you can drive it, even if it's still winter! I really want to enjoy these two cross events and then disconnect for a while before the start of the new season."
Stybar also reflected on the 2014-2015 cross season.
"It's still too soon right now to say where I'll be and how much I'll race during next winter," Stybar said. "We'll make up a schedule with the team like we did last year that will allow me to line up for the start of some cross races before the road racing season gets underway."
The three-time Elite World Champion in cyclocross also commented on the World title won by his teammate Michal Kwiatkowski.
"What we saw yesterday was amazing," Stybar said. "He was extremely strong on a mental level and he had a great team to back him up. Perhaps some people were wondering why Poland was working so hard in the head of the group, but those of us who ride with him know that when he's in form, Michal likes racing ahead. On Saturday when I saw the route I immediately thought it was a great route for him but the way in which he did it was fantastic. He won with style and class, proving that he is one of the strongest athletes in the group – actually, yesterday he was the strongest."