At 39, Sven Nys is doing his final months as a cyclo-cross rider before he becomes sporting manager of Telenet-Fidea. He appeared in the final edition of the Sporza show Extra Time Cross alongside his former rival Niels Albert, Wout van Aert’s team leader. Commentators Michel Wuyts and Paul Herygers also participated in the discussion. Nys said that "age is relative" and his decision to combine forces with Telenet-Fidea was "not evident".

The ability to perform at such his age was a topic of discussion. Michel Wuyts claimed that Nys is leaner than ten years ago. Nys agrees: "I'm sharper and train more. Has that something to do with the age? I don’t know. I'm not more concerned with nutrition than I was before.”

Nys set a new record on his his regular training circuit in October. At 39, he goes faster than he did as a 30-year-old. "It seems illogical, but that is how it is. It has nothing to do with explosiveness, which can perhaps decrease as you get older. My lap time has always improved over the years.

"My values ​​in my tests were identical to those of ten years ago. But it is true that I occasionally find it to get the engine started. For example, it is difficult to even be in the mix at the start of my first race after I have done very little for two or three days. And that is a sign of age.”

Nys plays down the impact of his age. "I think at some point age is very much in your head. If you stay focused and you have only few injuries, it is relative I think.”

Nys tries to explain his secret: "Over the years, I have always wanted to become better. Maybe that's absurd, but I always want to improve and always want to be faster. Occasionally you hit your head against the wall, but it has also brought me much success.

"I guess you can get older in the sport and stay active until you are 40 if you stay young in mind. You need the desire to win and to make sacrifices. I think that’s the issue for a lot of athletes after they turn 35. Why?

For one week Nys has had more on his mind than just his performances. It has been announced that he will be sporting manager of Telenet-Fidea after the season. His phone has not been silent since then.

"It is not obvious how to combine my job as a family man, sports manager and athlete in the last months. I want everyone to try to do that once a week.”

Nys is known as a meticulous planner and a control freak which will make it difficult to handle the many tasks. "I cannot postpone it anymore. At a certain moment, you have to make a decision. If you're delaying it until April or May, your preparation for next season has already been destroyed.

 "You already have to plan training camps and races, you have to choose the equipment. If I had delayed it, I would already have been accused of bad management if we had started a team in September which had done nothing right.

"You have to make a choice and I had no other choice. At that point you just have to live with it and lose the control for a moment. That's not easy.

"But it's not just that. To get so much attention in your final year very fine, but there is also another side of the coin. They want to make a documentary, write a book, they want to double interviews. There is so much to do, sometimes I'm amazed that I can still deliver this performance. It's not easy.”

Nys can count on a good entourage to lead his new project at Telenet-Fidea in the right direction. "Bob Verbeeck manages the financial aspect with contract negotiations and sponsors. I'm sporting manager, I am involved with the athletes. i must ensure that they get the best out of themselves.

"There is already a team. There are already a lot of people who have experience in the team. That's going to make sure that I won’t have to do things that I can’t handle.”