Not just Nys, but World Championships at risk for Eli Iserbyt too: "The body does not yet have the strength I want to give on those pure power sections"

The Belgian men's elite team for the Cyclocross World Championships is highly disputed with so many talented riders, and in this environment the smallest of issues can result in a switch. Thibau Nys' illness puts him at risk of missing the race, but Eli Iserbyt's leg injury poses a similar risk.

In Hoogerheide, the Pauwels Sauzen - Cibel Clementines rider rode to a sixth place, 2:33 minutes behind Mathieu van der Poel, but this was a race of two halves - the first of which he was not even riding within the Top10. This is because his nerve injury was hampering him significantly.

“My second and third laps were really bad. I had to slow down my pace to work off the acidification [in the legs]. And in the last lap I had a small crash. I was a bit behind, but I gave it my all. It was a good second half of the race, but the first half wasn’t that good.”

His comeback was quite strong, perhaps a glimpse into his real form, but the frequency in which he is harmed by this, and how it usually related to the heavy courses with a lot of mud or slow sections, poses a problem for Lièevin. “I had some problems with my leg. After 25 minutes it got better again. The running was just a bit too hard. I was just over the limit there. I felt that I had to slow down my pace, but the last two or three laps went really well.”

“I felt it coming on just on that part of the climb. Running uphill is always a weak point. It goes with ups and downs, but I hope to work well for a week now and get a bit better for next weekend," he says. The Belgians announced Wout van Aert as the ninth rider for the worlds, which will certainly put Belgium in a stronger position to fight for the gold medal in France. 

The course conditions will largely change the chances of Iserbyt being within the mix for a medal. "Fast courses are going very well, but mud courses are a bit of a drama for me at the moment. The body does not yet have the strength I want to give on those pure power sections.”