Sven Nys lost his firm grip on the rainbow jersey when he was defeated by Zdenek Stybar in yesterday's world championships race in Hoogerheide. After a fantastic battle with the Czech, however, the outgoing champion saw the race as a testament to the high level of the sport and described himself as a winner despite the outcome of the actual race.

In the build-up to the world championships, it was a common perception that defending champion Sven Nys would be very hard to beat. After all, the veteran had been dominant for most of the season, crushing the opposition completely in his most recent races.

Nys decided to skip the final World Cup round in Nommay to train for himself in Mallorca. He claimed to be feeling really good and said that he had all the ingredients to win a third title.

However, his plans were derailed by Zdenek Stybar who was a late addition to the start list, the Czech not making up his mind until a few days before the race. Nys was aware of the threat posed by the threat and singled him out as one of his key rivals.

The duo were clearly in a league of their own and rode at the head of their race in an exciting duel for almost the entire race. However, one always had the impression that Nys had things under control and was saving himself for a final attack.

A number of times he dropped Stybar but the Czech always managed to get back in the power sections. The decisive moment came near the end when Stybar decided to run up a climb that Nys would have preferred to ride, forcing the defending champion to slow down and jump off his bike himself.

At the top of the climb, Nys made a costly mistake when he started the a technical descent and this allowed Stybar to get his first significant gap. With less than half a lap to go, Nys didn't have enough time to close it down and had to settle for 2nd.

Despite again losing out on a rainbow jersey that already appeared to be his, Nys showed little disappointment and claimed that the race had been a victory for cyclo-cross.

"We were equally strong, both on a really high level," he said at the press conference. "We were both on our limit. I don't think I'm a loser today. I'm also a winner and that's what I take along for the remainder of the season.

"I think it was possible [to beat him]. I don't think he still had a good sprint left in his legs. I accelerated in the closing laps and he had trouble following. I made a small mistake after the tree. I waited half a lap and recovered a bit. It was not so easy to have a gap on Stybar."

Stybar has done very little cyclo-cross racing as he is now focused on his road career and Nys suggested that this could have played a role.

"Mentally he's a little bit more fresh because he doesn't race the whole season," he said. "I'm happy with my second place. It wasn't easy to defend my jersey. I'm nearly 38, I never forget that. There's also the pressure. I was the guy of which everybody said would win the race. It's mentally hard."

Nys suggested that the weather conditions also suited Stybar.

"My shape was on the highest level but [he is] a big champion who found a course that suits him really well. If it would've rained all week long like in many European countries then maybe it would have been easier to have a gap on him. He had a really good day and even then I had a chance to win."

With Stybar again set to do limited cyclo-cross racing, the rainbow jersey will only feature rarely in the biggest races. However, Nys didn't show any anger at Stybar for turning his back to the sport.

"Definitely not," he said. "If I won today it would be better if it was against a big champion. For me it's better to have a race like this. He's not only a road racer. For me it was better that Stybar was here. If he chooses cyclo-cross then it would be harder to win for him. That's what you saw in Koksijde [2012] when he did forty races. That's something he's chosen. I imagine he also wants to win a big Classic. If he wins a Classic I'll say ‘damn' and understand why I lost at the world championships in Hoogerheide.

"He's a triple 'cross world champion. He's not stealing the rainbow jersey here. Everybody has the right to schedule their own season. He does it this way, we do it through the 'cross series."

While Stybar will now focus fully on the road, Nys will do the final important Superprestige and Bpost races of the season.