"He is the big favourite" - Niels Albert backs Lars van der Haar for European Championship glory

Ahead of next weekend's Cyclocross European Championship, former two-time World Champion Niels Albert has given a little preview and in his opinion, Lars van der Haar is the standout competitor.

"For Van der Haar it is a course on which he always excelled in his best years, so I think he is the big favourite," explains the 37-year-old Belgian to HLN. "Vanthourenhout not being up to standard, I think you will have to take that into account at the European Championships. Not that we should write off Iserbyt or Nys just yet. Iserbyt is a stickler and Nys can ride uphill a bit. Very bad weather is forecast and that means it will be a very difficult cross."

As he touched upon then, Albert isn't fully convinced his fellow Belgian and reigning European Champion, Michael Vanthourenhout heading into the Championships. "Contradict me, but Vanthourenhout is not currently riding at a high level. No idea what was wrong with him on Sunday. He also spoke of a bad day. But I haven't really seen a good Vanthourenhout this year," Albert explains.

The big hope from Belgium could be Thibau Nys. "I had thought that Nys would compete for victory in Maasmechelen on Sunday. He spoke of a bad day. And that he didn't want to make it too heavy. After his fall, he could have climbed on his bike a little faster, tried hard for another two minutes, and he would have still come third or fourth," Albert analyses of Nys's form. "Now he has to make do with seventh place. You cannot expect him to dominate and control the cross country every weekend and then win. He is only twenty and at that age it is not necessary yet. But on the other hand: how much will Nys gain if Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and perhaps Tom Pidcock start racing again?"