"I feel like there was more in store": Joris Nieuwenhuis disappointed with "just" a third place after an early crash in Hamme

Joris Nieuwenhuis was unable to add on to his Saturday victory in Superprestige Merksplas as a third place was the maximum possible for the Dutchman in Flandriencross Hamme. The 29-year-old made an incredible comeback in the early phases of the cross when he found himself in the very last position at one moment, but later rejoined the front of the race to finish on the podium, behind Cameron Mason and winner Thibau Nys.

Although the result is not bad given the circumstances, Nieuwenhuis didn't sound very happy after the race. "To be honest? I wasn't feeling very well," he said in a flash interview.

Nieuwenhuis took off into the Sunday's X2O Trophy round from the second row, but quickly found himself way off the back as the mass of riders spewed him out.

"After the start, you immediately enter a singletrack with forty riders. The guys in front of me braked, and then you're crushed like a concertina. I got taken down there," he said. "I recovered quickly, but I injured my knee in the crash. It started to hurt more and more."

Nieuwenhuis is so far having a good start to the winter, with victories in Heerde and Lokeren, next to this week's from Merksplas. The only race that really did not go well for the Ridley Racing Team rider were the European Championships where the beach course did not fit Nieuwenhuis and only finished 15th.

"I'm still third, but I felt there was more in store," said Nieuwenhuis, who, after a long catch-up race, came only short of Nys and Mason. He didn't panic after his early crash. "I did what I did yesterday, set my own pace. But there weren't many straight stretches where I could find a rhythm. So today I had a bit more trouble finding my rhythm. Third was the best possible result for me."

Thanks to his strong comeback and third-place finish, Nieuwenhuis managed to maintain his lead in the X2O Badkamers Trophy standings. "That was my biggest motivation to keep up the pressure, because that's one of my goals," he says about the regularity classification.