39-year-old Sven Nys has had a dry year. On Wednesday, he saw Kevn Pauwels ride away with the victory. But his coach Paul Van Den Bosch refuses the suggestion that the veteran has decided to keep riding one year too much.

"Everyone can have his own opinion, but I find it absurd to make that suggestion," Paul Van Den Bosch said in the Radio 1 program De ochtend.

"We're talking about an athlete who barely misses the podium, who finished second in the first World Cup, third in the second World Cup and is third in the World Cup and Superprestige standings. If that is one year too much, then there are things that I have missed."

Sven Nys has not won a race for an entire year. "Yes, but the season only started two months ago. The heavy races are still to come. And I am the last to say that Sven will no longer win races."

"A rider at nearly 40 years of age with such a palmares does not prolong his career to yet again win 20 or 25 races. That is only logical," Paul Van Den Bosch continued.

"We expect that Sven still rides around at a respectable level. And he does that. Sven is still doing very well.

"He rides for the win and is part of the races. It would be a catastrophe for cyclocross if Sven would still dominate like before. It would be a catastrophe for all those emerging talents."

Nys was hugely frustrated by his many mistakes in the race in Niel.

"Yesterday he was very keen on that victory. You saw that. He immediately went on the attack and immediately put pressure on his rivals. It was the best Sven I've seen so far this season, he rode really offensively," Van Den Bosch concluded.