Second again! Laurens Sweeck bows to Thibau Nys after great performance at Belgian Championships: "I think I did a good job but it still wasn't enough"
CyclocrossMonday, 13 January 2025 at 03:00
Already a fifth runner-up result for Laurens Sweeck at the Belgian Championships. Despite coming close to a victory in Heusden-Zolder, Thibau Nys was outside the 2020 National champion's reach. Still, the 31-year-old speaks of a good race in a season with already five victories to his name.
"I tried to put Thibau under pressure, because I felt he was having a good day," Sweeck shared his thoughts with WielerFlits afterwards. "I think I did a good job, putting him under pressure, but it still wasn't enough. I am somewhat satisfied with that second place, but I remain an athlete. Then you want to win."
"But the best won today. I felt that Thibau had a lot of power on those sections at the end of the course. He also cleverly hid himself during the cross and then gave it his all in the last two laps," Sweeck analysed.
| Position | Rider | Time |
| 01 | Nys Thibau | 01:03:05 |
| 02 | Sweeck Laurens | + 09 |
| 03 | Aerts Toon | + 11 |
| 04 | Vandeputte Niels | + 14 |
| 05 | Verstrynge Emiel | + 39 |
| 06 | Wyseure Joran | + 48 |
| 07 | Iserbyt Eli | + 01:15 |
| 08 | Adams Jens | + 01:32 |
| 09 | Vanthourenhout Michael | + 01:41 |
| 10 | Soete Daan | + 01:43 |
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- Okay, so I completely agree that cycling history has shown that gains like these have ALWAYS been fueled by doping. However, personally in this case, I really don't care. Why, because this kid is so damn nice and fun and has been a positive force in cycling. Unlike Lance, who didn't care about anyone but Lance. Am I positive he is doing? No, and I'm happy to give him the benefit of doubt because he is such a fun kid.dabman13-01-2025
- no kidding. i remember when the pro peloton had the really edgy, nasty tone to it. many will want to blame armstrong for that but it went back WAAAYYYY before him. hinault presided over a culture like that, too, and others before him. it really sucked because amateur racers would emulate the pros and when i got into the sport i remember thinking “wow, bicycle racers are the biggest a**holes on the planet.” i’m not sure what caused the pro culture to change, but that change has been cemented by the greats of the sport — pogacar, van der poel, van aert, on and on — being great SPORTSMEN who are much more inclined to congratulate than hate each other. some may miss the old “get your hate on” days. i do not.OCexile12-01-2025
- Honestly, it's not just ProTeams that are arguing this: so are fans like me. I'd love to see more feisty teams struggling for points going at it against each other. I'd love to see a Cancellara team and a Contador team (what happened to them?!) up against the biggies. I'd love to see more wins like Castrillo in the Vuelta (his first was fun, his second was great!). But I also recognize that the two tier system requires that some teams fear a loss of benefit, and others seek a gain of benefit. If everyone has the benefit, is it as important to compete for it? Cycling is weird, that's my conclusion.RidesHills12-01-2025
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- for all i know Merlier and Wout are besties and Tim just thought it would be really funny to needle his buddy — “OMG, he’s so much faster than Wout its crazy!” WTF do any of us ever know, really.OCexile12-01-2025
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- Agreed, as said here and has been superficially discussed before, it is the whole peleton and race that has gotten faster, the very best like these three, are still only winning by the same margins as elsewhere in history, they haven’t discovered any new distinguishing product. I mean, if an ageing Cavendish, Thomas and others can still deliver sometimes, nothing much can be going on.Mistermaumau12-01-2025