Immediately after yesterday's Superprestige race in Spa-Francorchamps, Sven Nys returned to his camper. With a 15th place in the World Cup race in Koksijde and an 8th place in the Superprestige race in the Ardennes, the Belgian champion didn't have his best weekend. "Now I need to let the body recover so that I can regain my power in my legs," he wrote on Twitter.

"As soon as the race (in Spa, ed.) broke up, I could not follow the pace," Nys told the Mediahuis newspapers. "In hindsight, I should not have ridde in Koksijde but I did not feel sick enough to skip the race."

Due to an infection in the respiratory tract, Nys has been on antibiotics for three days. He blames his poor performance on his health issues. He refuses that it has anything to do with his age.

"Last week in Gavere I was already 38 years old and felt exactly like I wanted: strong and very satsified with my condition."

Later he elaborated on his thoughts in a tweet.

"Glad this weekend is over. I managed to limit the damage. Now I need to let the body recover so that I can regain my power in my legs," he wrote.