“Verstrynge made a mistake and I ran into him – the bike took a hit and the chain flew off”: Joris Nieuwenhuis details dramatic Superprestige success in Merksplas

Joris Nieuwenhuis delivered one of the grittiest rides of his cyclocross season in Merksplas — overcoming a crash, a broken shoe, and a chain-dropping incident before riding everyone off his wheel for a statement Superprestige victory.

What looked like a ruined afternoon in the opening laps turned into a dominant late charge, and for the Dutchman, the win meant more than the margin suggested. After crossing the line alone, he admitted just how chaotic his race had been. “I finally felt really good again,” he said — but getting to that point took resilience as much as strength.

Nieuwenhuis’ troubles began early. A crash in the second lap damaged the fastening on his shoe, leaving him unsure whether to stop. “It happened already in the second lap,” he said. “I hesitated about changing my shoe, but then I’m sure it’s over. Actually, it still went quite well with that shoe.”

That alone would have been enough to derail most riders, but further misfortune followed. While navigating deep ruts alongside Emiel Verstrynge, the two collided — triggering a far more serious setback.

“There were those ruts, and Emiel made a mistake. He went too far to the right and I ran into him, which caused the bike to take a hit and the chain flew off,” Nieuwenhuis revealed. “I thought ‘not again’, but I also thought: I’ll see where I end up, and that was more than expected.”

Dropped to around twenty seconds down and briefly out of rhythm, his chances seemed to evaporate. Yet the moment he remounted and settled back into tempo, he sensed the race was still within reach.

Bit by bit, Nieuwenhuis reeled in the leaders. Once he bridged across, the momentum swung sharply. Others began to make mistakes in the sand, while he navigated the course with increasing clarity and control.

“I realised quite quickly that I felt great and I noticed that others were making a lot of mistakes, and that I was getting through it fairly easily,” he said. “I put on pressure for half a lap to see what it would do. After that I rode very well through the sandpit and I had a small gap. Then I just kept going.”

From there, the pattern of the race changed completely. What had been a tight six-rider group shattered as Nieuwenhuis’ pace in the technical zones and sand sections proved unmatched. By the final lap he was cresting the climbs with a clear view of victory, while the battle behind unfolded between Niels Vandeputte and Emiel Verstrynge for the remaining podium places.

Nieuwenhuis held his line, avoided further drama, and took a commanding win — made all the more impressive by the adversity he had to absorb to get there.