"It's very cool that I get to ride in the red-white-blue now" - Joris Nieuwenhuis takes biggest career win at Dutch National Championships

Joris Nieuwenhuis is the newly-crowned Dutch national cyclocross champion after an impeccable performance on Sunday afternoon saw him take a dominant win.

“I really had a great day. I also know that I have to do it this way if I want to have a chance," the Baloise - Trek Lions star recapped post-race having seen off the fight off his two teammates, Pim Ronhaar and Lars van der Haar. "You need a very good day for that. Luckily I had that.”

Having managed to avoid an early crash. Nieuwenhuis held the lead with Ronhaar for a number of laps before eventually making his solo attack to glory. “I didn't give it my all, I was just trying to figure out what Pim was like. But I did put some pressure on him, yes. My intention was to keep the pace high while still feeling comfortable,” he recalls of the time spent alongside his teammate.

"Whether I immediately knew it was done when I had a gap? No, because I had one good passage, but then it could also be that Pim just had something there and he just comes back," Nieuwenhuis concludes. "And anyway, I never want to immediately think: this is it. It was only the last half lap that I thought: I'm 45 seconds ahead, now I can enjoy myself. It's very cool that I get to ride in the red-white-blue now."