As the year of 2013 comes to a
close that means only one thing: the most important month of the year for
cyclocross is arriving. The month of January is filled with the final two World
Cups, the various National Championships and above all, the World
Championships. The World Championships take place in Hoogerheide, Netherlands
this year, a previous World Championship and World Cup site. The last time the
World Championships were held in Hoogerhiede, Sven Nys finished in third place,
38 seconds down on the winner Niels Albert.
A Great End to the
Year
This past weekend most of the
European cyclocross superstars went to Diegem, Belgium to compete under the
lights in their last race of this calendar year. The race was part of the
Superprestige series and Niels Albert was the four-time defending champion and
looking for a fifth straight win.
Mr. Superprestige himself and
reigning World Champion, Sven Nys, had other plans in mind. However, given his
lackluster performance at the World Cup the day after Christmas, he had his
work cut out for him to make sure he didn’t get toppled from his throne atop
the cyclocross world.
Under the lights in Diegem, Sven
Nys was unstoppable. After capturing the lead part way through the opening lap
he proceeded to dismantle the field single handedly. A frustrated Niels Albert
could only look on as he tried to close the gap to Nys. It appeared that whenever
Nys wanted to up the speed just that little bit more he could and did so with
what appeared to be absolute ease. He allowed Albert to finally bridge up to
him just once as he slid out of a corner, but got rid of Albert moments later,
turning up the throttle on a steep muddy incline. By the end of the race Nys
was far enough ahead to celebrate with a third of a lap to go. For those who
say Albert just had an off day, notice that on the last lap Albert had to run the
steep muddy incline, too exhausted to ride it. Sven Nys was ringing out the
year of 2013 and showing he was not World Champion for no reason.
A New Bike
As
of January 1st, Sven Nys will no longer ride his beloved Colnago,
but an American brand bike, Trek. It begins a new era for Nys. The Trek brand is
fairly new to cyclocross but has made a name for itself rather quickly. World Cup
winner and World Championship podium placer Katie Compton rides a Trek, so Nys
is in good company. It will be interesting to see if Nys begins to ride with disc
brakes full time. Early in the year he dapped with disc brakes, but never
seemed fully committed. Katie Compton has been seen riding disc brakes and although
current World Cup leader Lars van de Haar is not sponsored by Trek, he has been
riding disc brakes all season.
This weekend's race in Diegem reminded me of the Nys of old, one that I have not seen much of this year. If Sven Nys is able to hold his form all through the month of January, then the stars will be aligning for Nys to add a third world title to his palmares.
This weekend's race in Diegem reminded me of the Nys of old, one that I have not seen much of this year. If Sven Nys is able to hold his form all through the month of January, then the stars will be aligning for Nys to add a third world title to his palmares.
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