After his recent illness, Sven Nys bounced back with a solid showing in today's Bpost Bank Trofee race in Hasselt. However, due to a slow start, the Belgian was forced into chase mode and he admitted that he had lost the race in the first lap.

Having suffered from illness, Sven Nys has been far from his usual level in recent weeks. Today he was again unable to match Kevin Pauwels and Wout van Aert in the Bpost Ban Trofee race in Hasselt but he rode well enough to finish fourth and limit his time losses in the overall standings where he is still the leader.

Nys didn't have a good start and in the sprint for third, he was beaten by Tom Meeusen after having ridden hard to limit his overall losses. "Today there was no more than this," he told Het Nieuwsblad. "I tried to lose as little time as possible.

"I did not start well and did not have the explosiveness in the beginning. I was not where I was supposed to be. You really have to be up there, that's the only way to win. It was  impossible to close the hap. I lost the race in the first lap."