Sven Nys is now recovering in Mallorca after a few eventful weeks in the cyclocross world. In the recent races, Nys was barely in contention for the win and it all culminated last week when he abandoned the race in Overijse. The criticism has clearly had an impact on the Belgian champion but Nys remains combative. "I want to be able to stop in a decent way," Nys tells the Mediahuis newspapers.

Early this week Sven Nys travelled to Mallorca. He will skip the cross race today in Antwep and tomorrow in Mol and will try to find his good legs under the Spanish sun. "I have a good feeling on the bike," Nys says. "Only the results in the races have been less good."

Nys has already found an explanation for his disappointing performance in the last few weeks? "I do not feel sick and my blood test results prove that I am healthy. I have been ill and last weekend I probably still suffered from the effects.

"But I can not pinpoint a single cause. I think that everything has played a role. In Overijse (where he abandoned, ed.), I felt very quickly that nothing in me was wanted to fight. It may have looked like a lack of motivation but it definitely wasn't."

In any case, Nys seemed to have been completely written off as a contender. "What bothers me most is that the criticism goes too far. Until the Koppenborgcross, I rode the way I wanted to. But afterwards I heard people who claim edthat I'm too old.

"That bothers me, especially since those comments often come from people who praised me a month earlier, and said that I would continue to dominate until I was fifty years old. To change from one day to another to claim that I'm too old is to go too far. Maybe that's why I feel less good about myself."

The harsh comments have clearly affected Nys. "In Overijse I heard the crowd shout that I didn't have it. That's not the case. Last Sunday was too bad to be normal and as a sports person I was trying to get out of it.

"As soon as I start to get some success, I can probably look back on a time from which I have leanred a lot. It is not the first time that I have had such a dip in form. I am only human and not a robot. In past years, I may have given the impression that everything went smoothly. But that was not the case.

"I can live with the fact that people share their opionion when they have been frustrated for about my successful career for a long time. But those people do not have the right to deny me the pleasure of the sport. I want to stop in a decent way.

How will Nys try to improve? "I will remain calm and make sure that I am stilly enjoying the sport. Top sport is a tight balance. I don't know anything and cannot predict when I will be back to my best. But I feel that things go in the right direction and hope to be my old self during the Christmas season.

Meanwhile, youngster Wout van Aert has made an impressive debut at the pro scene. "These young people are not a curse for me. They keep me focused and motivated. It's not a problem for me to lose my throne.

"At the age of 38 you have to let something go. I f you can't d that, you are an old and frustrated ride. And that's the last thing I want to be."