Friday morning the press met a hopeful Sven Nys at a press conference in Tabor. "The course that I feared - frozen without snow - is not there."

"I am so hopeful," Nys said when he met the press at a remarkably relaxed mood. "Especially since I've already taken another step since the Belgian Championships. I felt that last weekend in Hoogerheide. But I am nothing more than an outsider. It haven't won a race since Niel. Then I can't have too big expectations.

"The eyes are not on me. The top favorites are Wout Van Aert and Mathieu Van der Poel. When I'm with them in the final lap, I can make it difficult with my experience."

According to Nys, the main point is how van der Poel will start. "Will he simply ride away in the first lap like he did in Hoogerheide?" Nys asked. "If he does, then we already know a lot. If he doesn't, I see opportunities for others. Personally, I see Wout van Aert as top favorite. Last Sunday, he held a bit back to put the role of favourite onto the shoulders of van der Poel. At the Belgian Championships, Wout experienced how difficult it is to be the favourite.

"Normally I always come to Worlds with the ambition to become world champion. Now that's completely different. My experience is also different. Normally I am very focused on the weather and looking a lot at the course, but now I am just here to deliver a good performance, to get the maximum out of it. Wout Van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel are above the rest. I'm not at the top level here. My condition is good, but I lack raw power.

"I am also a realist. It would be fantastic to be on the podium with those two young guys. I would regard it in the sam way as I would have regarded a worlds title earlier in my career. A change of generations? You could say it that way."

Meeusen: The affair makes it harder for me

Due to the ozone affair, Tom Meeusen had to force his way into the race by going to the the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport (BAS). Last week he went through hell and only last Friday he was confident about his selection for the World Cup in Hoogerheide and the World Championships in Tabor. In this World Cup he had a blistering start, but he dropped back after half a lap and he had to settle for 18th. "That chaos has affected my body," he said. "My back, my neck, everything was blocked. And furthermore, I got sick, my sinuses."

From last Wednesday until Monday he took antibiotics. "Maybe I  should have stopped the race a bit earlier," he said. "And I risked to get ill again at Worlds but it did not take too long and the antibiotics made me fresh. I feel okay now."

Meeusen is a devil on ice and snow. Normally he is always one of the favorites in Tabor. "I won't be too frustrated just because some mud on the course is forecasted," he said. "I don't follow the weather forecasts too closely. We'll see. It does not matter what course it will be here: snow or ice. The decisive points on the course will be after the bars and the stairs. I do not think a little mud or ice will make the difference. It is the many altitude metres that make the difference. This course is different from a flat course on snow and ice. The course can also change a lot before Sunday."

After last Sunday's demonstration, he sees Mathieu van der Poel as the big favourite. "For me there is only one rider that we must focus on in the first half of the race and that is Mathieu. We can not let him ride away if we want to win with the Belgians. Since the affair, my own chances have been significantly reduced. I think Wout Van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel must take responsibility. Those are the two riders of the season and it is up to the rest to follow them as long as possible and to try to make the surprise."

Vantournout: I am healthy

Klaas Vantornout was ill at last Sunday's race in Hoogerheide but he has recovered for Worlds.

"Whether I am sick? No, I am not," Klaas Vantornout said when asked about his health. "I felt bad for one or two days and unfortunately it happened when we rode in Hoogerheide. But the comments I have received... I don't know what to say. Whether it is a good omen (Vantornout became Belgian champion after he had been sick, ed)? No, because I'm not sick, so the two championships are not comparable. I am now perfectly healthy. I've had two good weeks after the Belgian Championships and I have done plenty of training. So I came here with confidence. I have not been on the course yet but I have heard enough from the other guys. I don't lose any sleep. I have a jersey, and there are only two championships. If I can become Belgian champion, I can also become world champion. Whether we will ride as a Sunweb block? No, I'm here with the Belgian team. And we will need them, because on Sunday we will face two damn good Dutch riders."