Sven Nys is in the final stretch of his preparations for his last Belgian title race. Sporza spoke with the nine-time Belgian champion during his training in Lichtaart. "I mainly want to be in the mixon Sunday," he said modestly.
Today Sven Nys was nowhere to be seen on the circuit for the Belgian Championships in Lille. Instead, he did his usual training session with teammate Sven Vanthourenhout and coach Paul Van den Bosch in Lichtaart.
"It's very quiet here. In Lille there are many people walking around and it is hard to train," Nys explained his choice. "I've been doing it for years. And here I can quickly feel whether it is good or not."
How does it feel then? "The feeling is good, but I have to be fresher. I've only had two days of recovery after the race in Leuven, but the next two days I will be very quiet.
"I will get the real feeling on Saturday. Then I will try to gt my cross rhythm . It is logical that I still do not have my freshest legs. I raced last Sunday."
In championship races, only the win counts but what does Nys want to accomplish? "I especially want to be in the mix," said Nys.
"It is quite normal that Van Aert is the big favorite for everybody. He has won the most races and was very impressive in Baal.
"Behind him there are some guys that can offer a fight on their day. That's already been proved this season. I've done that as has Kevin Pauwels. And Tom Meeusen shouldn't be underestimated.
"I expect an exciting race because there will be a lot of stress. Sunday is the big day for Wout."
Nys has nine drikleur jerseys in his closet and so a big mental advantage. Van Aert's never had a title in the pro ranks. "The longer it takes, the more stress is involved. But first of all you need good legs and Wout has that. That allows you to compensate a lot."
On Sunday Nys could equal the record of Roland Liboton who won 10 Belgian titles between 1980 and 1989. Will ut make a big difference to Nys to match that record?
"Absolutely," said Nys. "It's a very string record and I would never have dared to dream that I could get close. It was always said about me that I am not a championship rider but I have nine Belgian championships and I'm proud of it.
"It would be nice if I could be next to Liboton but I have great respect for how he did it:10 times in a row in a much shorter period of time. I'm going to try, but I won't lose sleep if I fail."
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