The stomach flu that laid former World Cyclocross Champion Sven Nys low for the Belgian Championships last weekend has passed, and the sport's dominating force over the past ten years, will return this weekend for the seventh round of the World Cup at Ponchateau on Sunday.
Nys's coach, Paul Van den Bosch, spoke on behalf of the Landbouwkrediet rider to CyclismeRevue.eu.
"He will start with the aim of limiting the damage. If he can manage second place in the World Cup and first place in the UCI rankings, it will be a great success. Sven just had the stomach fu. I do not think this will have a big impact on his physical condition."
Writing on his own website, Nys describes the gradual return to health.
"Finally, I feel hungry for dinner and a bicycle again. It's just about waiting until all the batteries are charged again."
While Nys is no stranger to bad luck, his health is rarely an issue. Looking back, the 2010 Belgian National Champion confesses that it has been almost ten years since sickness laid him low before a big event.
"It has been a long time since I was ill at an important time - the World Championships in 2002. You could see before the race that I was going to be sick. It was only the night before [that I fell ill]; obviously, I was not able to fight, only suffer. It was unfortunate, I would have liked to race with all of my abilities."
Looking ahead, Nys is excited to return to form and get back to racing - the World Championships are only a little ways off, and after a few dark days of sickness, the Belgian knows: "No matter how you look at it - sunshine follows the rain."
Nys has a little over two weeks to regain top form ahead of the World Championships's return to St. Wendel, Germany. The last time the World Championships were held in St. Wendel, it was Nys who scored his one and only elite World Championship title. It's a win that the now 34 year old hopes to duplicate on January 30th.
"St. Wendel is a fantastic, technically demanding route, with big climbs and descents. If it gets really cold, we can look forward to a fast race, and that suits me really well. I remember from the last time that the atmosphere was fantastic, almost like racing at home. This is real sport, with action from start to finish," said Nys recently to feltet.dk.