Dogged by bad luck in the WC race

The first pile-up occurred with about 70km to go. “Unfortunately, a cleat on my shoe broke off and I couldn’t click back on. I had to wait for the team car. Bárta decided to wait for me but I told him to keep riding not to lose any more time,” Roman said.It took quite a long time for the car to arrive. “Two or three minutes, I guess. It is only the second time this has happened to me but I always have a spare pair of shoes in the car. I changed only the right one. When something like this happens at this point of a race it is usually over but I paced behind a car and succeeded in getting back. I rode another lap but then another crash occurred and I stayed in the back with Štybar and Raboň,” Roman described.He himself managed to stay on the bike and didn’t fall. “…but someone hit me from behind and my rear derailleur came off. I had to change the bike again, so it meant another hold-up. Then the front group picked up the pace and I knew it was all over for me. I´m upset about it because I felt quite good. I am sorry that Štyby and Bárta didn’t stay up front. They might have figured something out in the finale. After all those mishaps the performance we put in today was rather lackluster but it wasn’t because we didn’t have the ability to do well. In a race like this you need a bit of luck but today we were simply out of luck,” Roman regretted.“We were pursued by bad luck today and there is nothing we can do about it. It was my last race of the season and after having wound up the season like this I just hope that the next year in a new team will turn out much better,” he added.Finally, he had a word of praise for the new world champion Gilbert. “He was one of the favorites, which he proved in the way he rode the last two kilometers. He was the strongest rider today. After his below-par season he managed to tune up for the World Championship and I think that the rainbow jersey will suit him, he deserved the victory.”