Defending champion Sven Nys was an unexpected withdrawal from yesterday’s Belgian national cyclo-cross title, being clearly off the pace during a contest won by Neils Alberts.
The 34 year old has been riding very strongly this season and started the race as one of the clear favourites. He said afterwards that he didn’t feel at all like himself, telling 2BE that he knew immediately that his sensations were bad. “I had no power. I already felt it with the first pedal strokes that I had nothing in my legs. I abandoned, since even in training I am riding faster.”
The reason why he was so far off the pace became clearer later on when his wife Isabelle said that he felt worse as the day progressed. “When we got home, Sven was shivering all over his body,” she told Sporza. “He was feeling hot and cold at the same time, and nauseous as well. These are all symptoms of flu.”
Nys went to bed early and will do what he can to recover quickly and then return to training in advance of the next races. The world cyclo-cross championships will take place on Sunday January 30th, giving him 20 days to get ready. It remains to be seen what impact the illness will have on his races in the more immediate future. Nys is currently leading the Superprestige and Gazet Van Antwerpen series but, fortunately, the next races in both series are in February.