[Burkni]

Why not just have a seperate thread for our guys in here.
My issue today: Didn't you say that Nys was going to cut back on CX to give more effort to MTBing, VdB?
He seems to be racing both days every single weekend to me ...

[VdB]

Yeah, but I think he was talking mostly about the (even busier) christmas/new year's period...I think he's gonna cut in those races in order to be less exhausted at the end of the season and fresh(er) when the MBK training season starts.

To an extent it's perception, too: he doesn't really race THAT much, mostly only the real important races that count for an overall ranking (GVA, SP and of course the WC races)...a lot of other riders race midweek stuff in between. It's just because he tends to dominate almost every race that it seems like he's everywhere.

On another MBK note: if I'm not mistaken French mbk monster Julien Absalon will be starting in one of the WC races soon...can't remember if it was Igorre or Nommay, I suppose the latter. It's kinda cool, in any case.

Do I need to post some pics of Nys and burn some incense at your shrine too Burkni?

[froggie]

Another question from xcross newbie - Does training differ between cyclocross and mtb races ? Is Nys only cutting back on number of races or is he also ajusting his training regimen?

Also, are the payouts as high in mtb races?

thanks for all the info I really appreciate it.

[VdB]

Yes, Nys is also training accordingly; but I can't imagine he's doing so at this very moment. I'm not an expert by any means, but despite what one would think cross and mbk are very different sports...your average mbk course is twice as long as a cross course, there's more climbing in mbk, the bikes are different and last but not least: unlike mbk, cross is a winter sport. So training is very different too...I presume Nys is working on his general endurance, arms and bike position. His already excellent technique and familiarity with dirt tracks should be a bonus, but there's always an adjustment of course.

I found this on the Rabo site:

http://www.rabobank.nl/bedrijven/sponsorin...en_beijing_2008

"But Nys agrees that mbk is a very different sport from cross: 'I'm used to having my hands on the brakes, but in mbk you don't need to do that. The bike is completely different from a cross or road bike. The handlebar is completely straight so you have to grow some serious arm muscles. A cross rider steers with his hands, so it's hard at first. Shifting gears goes a lot slower too, and the climbs are longer so you need to divide your efforts well."


It's harder to compare the sports on a commercial basis: I don't think there's a lot more money to be made in mbk than in cross (more on that later) but mbk is a) much more international and B ) an Olympic sport. Both of which do a lot for sponsorship willingness and overall prestige. The only reason Nys wants to try his hand at mbk is because cross isn't an Olympic sport.

So, the money side...I don't have a very good idea of the money involved in mbk but I found this on the UCI site:

http://www.uci.ch/imgArchive/Publications/...EUR%20-%20E.pdf

You'll see that the prize money for the elite men is about the same in WC races (around 2300€ for the winner), but the worlds land the winner almost twice as much in cross than in mbk! Also, your average mbk calendar features a LOT less races than that of a crosser. Check reigning world- and olympic champ Julien Absalon's calendar: http://www.absalon-julien.com/images/Calendrier%202006.xls

That's about 17-18 races, over an entire season. Now check Nys' calendar: http://www.svennys.com/2007/index.php?opti...7&Itemid=16

44 races!! More than twice as many as a top mbk rider. Can you still find the other thread I posted the prize money for the Superprestige and the GVA trophy? If not I'll dig it up again for you. Anyway, I think that if we compare the amount of races + the prize money we know of, it's safe to say that cross beats mbk by a fair margin when it comes to financial reward. But in terms of prestige, mbk definitely outranks cross.

[Burkni]

Do I need to post some pics of Nys and burn some incense at your shrine too Burkni?

Just start a Wellens thread, dude

[froggie]

Holly schedule batman - Nys is a stud !

And yes I still have the post with the $$ from cyclocross. As always thanks all for the education.

[VdB]

You're welcome!

Just for the record, Nys' results in MBK so far:

2005

- Became Belgian champion in his first ever professional race (but Paulissen and Meirhaeghe weren't there)
-Two weeks later placed 12th at the European Championships, mixing it up with guys like Martinez, Sauser and Paulissen

2006

-second place at the Belgian championship behind Meirhaeghe (and in front of Paulissen)
- 32th place in the WC race in Schladming

To put that 32th place a little bit into perspective: because he has no ranking in the mtb circuit, Nys had to start in 80th position. One hour into the race he had already taken back 60 (!) riders and barely lost any time on Sauser who won the race. But in the last two rounds he paid for those efforts and started to lose minutes and a few more places.

He realized that he'd have to ride a lot more mtb races next year to get a good starting position to have a chance at actually being a factor in mtb. I don't think he wants to actually win or podium in Peking anyway, just wants to be there and have a good show. Oh and another tidbit about his mtb sidestep: he's working together with scientists in order to stop his excessive sweating. Because mtb is a summer sport (and because the Olympics are in Peking) this is very much a handicap for him. He doesn't have this problem in cross races obviously.

@ Burkni: I'll just defile your thread with pics of the awesome Bartje

[Yoeki]

he's working together with scientists in order to stop his excessive sweating.

What could they come up with? Beijing will be pretty muggy and humid as pretty much all of Asia is in summer.

He would be better off eating some strong trippy spacecakes. Then just pretend he's back home, 0 degrees, slight drizzle with a strong head wind blowing.

[Burkni]

This hot-weather thing is definitely doable, but he needs to take enough time doing it and not try to acclimatize in 2 or 3 weeks. A recent example is the women's marathon at the 2004 OG in Athens where the searing heat was one of the factor's in Paula Radcliffe's undoing, even though she had done some hot-weather training and acclimatising. The winner, however, (Mizuki Noguchi) had done weeks on end in some insanely hot area in China.

[guidemd]

Medical perspective here - treatments for hyperhidrosis (aka excessive sweating) can include topical application of various chemicals (usually aluminum based) on the skin (like a super-powered antiperspirant kind of thing), medications to decrease the production of sweat from sweat glands (not sure if they have other effects that would warrant them being on the WADA prohibited list...), or even sometimes surgical treatments to block the nerves to the sweat glands ...

obviously need to be able to sweat enough to cool down, so can't shut down everything so to speak ... in some ways acclimatization might be better than those other options...

[Burkni]

Wellens claiming Nys is getting a bit too arrogant ... is this true VdB? Will I have to switch my allegiance to Niels Albert?

[VdB]

Nah, you'll be fine...for now.

It is true that Nys recently started saying things that he wouldn't have said before; stuff like 'I won today but I was only at 85% of my abilities' and 'I came here to maybe get top 5 after last week's food poisoning but I won!'. Just in general making statements about how easy it all went even though he felt like crap.

I can understand that the opposition takes offense at it, I mean if you train well, live right and still constantly get beaten by the same guy, you don't want him saying stuff like 'I wasn't even feeling that well.' But tbh, it's not that Nys is sounding bigheaded or something just yet...only a little arrogant/surprised at his own strength. Maybe ppl just take offense because he didn't used to be like that at all. He always was a rather withdrawn and humble rider. It's just funny that this criticism is coming from Wellens, who's perhaps the biggest mouth of the entire cyclocross peloton!

[Burkni]

And so it begins .... Nys' mental collapse prior to the worlds, that is. (and Vervecken's rise)

[VdB]

Now now Burkni, don't start panicking just yet: Nys won all three crosses he participated in in the last three days. So he looks completely ready for the Belgian championship this weekend...but you're porobably right that Vervecken will come out and give him a hard challenge.

[Burkni]

Let's say Hoogleide-Gits will be as muddy as you say:
Does a top-form Vervecken stand a chance agains the Nys machine or super Bartje?

If it's icy, he (Erwin) is definitely my favourite ...

[VdB]

Oh, definitely...if Hooglede is the prehistoric mudpool we're all looking forward to (well, I am anyway ) then Erwin will be a sure pick for the podium and a potential winner. Oldie Groenendaal won't be far from the top spots either...but Nys isn't just technically superior to everyone in the cyclocross peloton, he's probably the strongest mudrider of the pack too. I can only see Vervecken win if the mud is so thick that they'll have to run. As for superbartje...I don't think he'll top 3 but you never know with him, might win with a minute on the others.


Last year's top 10 when it was a WC race (and when it was so cold Wellens had to abandon with hypothermia symptoms). I swear that I wrote the above before looking up the top 10 But the general idea is: if the going gets tough, the old men and the cannibal are sure picks.


1 Sven NYS
2 Erwin VERVECKEN
3 Richard GROENENDAAL
4 Gerben DE KNEGT
5 John GADRET
6 Petr DLASK
7 Enrico FRANZOI
8 Wilant VAN GILS
9 Arnaud LABBE
10 Zdenek STYBAR

[Burkni]

To get one thing straight (not technically going off-topic):
Did Nys change the spelling of his name, or what's with the whole Nys/Nijs thing?

[VdB]

No he always was called 'Nys' but in the beginning of his career (and even still now) people spell it as 'Nijs'. They're homonyms in Dutch so that makes it extra confusing. I probably alternate between 'Nys' and 'Nijs' in my spelling too, so hope you don't mind it too much!

Saucy detail: Nys only really started worrying about people spelling his name correctly after marrying his wife Isabelle, whose last name is...Nijs. He didn't want people to get the wrong idea, and can you blame him? haha.

[Burkni]

In a Cnews pre-season interview, Nys has this to say:

Just like in past seasons, Nys is looking to take the most amounts of wins that he can, “every year I say that I don’t have a specific goal, rather I just want to win as much as possible. That has not changed. I know that if I am in good condition and stay away from accidents and injuries that I will always be close to the front. But there are always some things that you don’t have control over. Look at the worlds last year, I still have the feeling that I was not beaten fairly.”

Anyone know what he is referring to?

[guidemd]

Anyone know what he is referring to?

presumably no one here knows .

Velonews has an interview up with Nys - about the upcoming World Cup and the season, and also the possibility of making it to the Olympics next year in MTB.