"This is a beautiful championship course" - Thibau Nys predicts incredible Belgian Championships on Sunday

This weekend will be all about the cyclocross national championships and that will be no different in the home of cyclocross - Belgium. European champion Thibau Nys already wears one highly valued jersey, but adding a Belgian tricolor to his palmares would be a more than welcome bonus.

Nys initially didn't think much of the course in Heusden-Zolder, but organisers seem to have done an exceptional job for the Sunday's race. "I like it better than expected," he told VTM Nieuws after seeing the changed course for the first time. "With the slope, among other things, it has become a bit more selective. Because if it stays dry on Sunday, it would have been a lottery. Now you can make a difference a bit easier. This is a beautiful championship course, where different scenarios are possible. I like that."

"It would be fantastic to become Belgian champion, but I would have preferred to win four or five more races," he tells Het Laatste Nieuws. "A classic race like Diegem or Baal, that would have been more valuable to me than that jersey. It's not like I'm suddenly giving myself ten out of ten if I win that jersey on Sunday."

Father Sven Nys was also pleased with what he saw. "The final will be a lot fairer, less can be 'done'. The chance of a sprint has already become smaller. Especially at the end, that climb can really make the difference. So I think it will be decided in the last two laps," said Nys senior after seeing the lap for the first time.

The nine-time Belgian champion gives his son some fatherly advice. "For Thibau, it is now a matter of building up to Sunday in a calm manner. He has already proven in the past that he can handle the stress of such a championship well. It should also provide peace of mind that he already has that European jersey. His season will not stand or fall with what happens on Sunday," the team boss of Baloise Glowi Lions says.