Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony) has declared himself fully recovered from his crash in Sunday’s cyclocross World Cup race in Plzeň, Czech Republic, and ready for Thursday’s Koppenbergcross, the second round of the bpost bank trofee. The Belgian champion was part of a lead duo - along with World champion Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) - when he came down on a short, steep descent; Nys hit his groin hard on his top tube and - having had to straighten his handlebars - was unable to rejoin Albert and slumped to sixth at the finish.
After the race, Nys complained that he must have “dented” his private parts in the crash, and that the discomfort had prevented him from applying his full power. He had also damaged his back a little but, after a visit to his osteopath on Monday, the Belgian champion is ready to race again.
"The pain in my private parts is as good as gone,” Nys said, according to the Gazet van Antwerpen. “Worse was the effect on my back.
“After every crash I have to get treatment, from my neck to my lower back,” he explained. “If I don’t, I lose 20-30% of my power; that was what happened on Sunday once again.”
Sunday’s incident was the second in a week for Nys, as a broken chain in the previous World Cup round, in Tabor, Czech Republic, meant that he could only manage fifth. These problems have put him a long way behind his big rivals in the overall World Cup classification, but he has maintained this year that he is concentrating on “winning as many beautiful ‘crosses as possible.”
One of those ‘crosses will be Thursday’s Koppenbergcross, which he has won a record eight times in all, including seven in a row between 2004 and 2010. The race, which is based around the legendary cobbled Ronde van Vlaanderen climb of the Koppenberg, just outside Oudenaarde, and is one of the toughest of the season; its midweek position is due to its - recently traditional - organisation on November 1st, All Saints Day, which is a public holiday in Belgium.
Despite the pain he suffered on Sunday though, Nys does not expect his performance in on of his races to be affected.
“I'm ready for the Koppenberg, physically and mentally,” he said.