Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) is well on course for an unprecedented tenth overall title in the Superprestige cyclocross series. The Belgian champion already passed the incredible milestone of fifty race victories in the series in November 2009, and he is now just three races away from another landmark, which will surely never be beaten.
Nys first won the title in the 1998/99 season, when he was just 22 years old, and since then he has won it in all but three seasons. Last year his title was taken by Zdenek Stybar (Telenet-Fidea), whose second half to the season also netted him the World Cup and the World Championships. Stybar himself looked on course to retain the Superprestige this year until a knee injury has seen him take most of the month off.
The next race in the series is in Diegem, Belgium on December 27th, the day after the Heusden-Dolder World Cup; there will then be a long break in the series until February before the final two races in Hoogstraten and Middlekerke.
"Before the season the tenth Superprestige victory was one of my biggest challenges," said Nys to Belga. "It is wonderful that this campaign has gone so well.”
Nys currently leads the series with 68 points after the five races so far. His nearest rival is Kevin Pauwels (Telenet-Fidea) with 56 points, and with 15 points on offer for a win – descending to 1 point for 15th place – Nys’ lead looks pretty secure. Even after four victories on the course in Diegem though, he feels that it is not a good course for him.
“To get closer to get that tenth success,” Nys explained, “I must see that Diegem is not as disappointing as it has been on more than one occasion in the past; last year I even had to abandon the race with a broken shifter.”
Unusually, for a race of this importance, the Superprestige race in Diegem is run in the evening, with a 17:30 start ensuring that the course has to be lit by floodlights. This kind of racing may be good for the fans, but is not always popular with the riders.
“I’ve won in Diegem four times – in 1998, 2000, 2006 and 2007 – yet I can’t say that the marriage of Sven Nys and Diegem is a happy one,” he explained. “I rarely a have a good feeling in the race; the race is not for me, period. Success for me will therefore be making sure I do not lose too much ground [on my rivals], then the tenth overall victory will be very close.”