Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Zdenek Stybar — riding for the Czech Republic national team — placed 26th in the 272.2km UCI World Road Championship on Sunday. The race was almost seven and a half hours long, and many riders abandoned due to very rainy, slippery conditions on the course.
OPQS rider Serge Pauwels was also 29th, after working hard on the front for the Belgian team throughout the race. Michal Golas (Poland) finished 33rd.
Rui Costa (Portugal) won the world championship, beating Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) in a two-up sprint after catching Rodriguez with about a kilometer remaining. Alejandro Valverde (Spain) was 3rd.