Sven Nys

Sven Nys

Nys at the 2005 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.
Personal information
Full name	Sven Nys
Nickname	The Cannibal from Baal (Dutch) De Kannibaal van Baal
Born	(1976-06-17) 17 June 1976 Bonheiden, Belgium
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb)
Team information
Current team	Telenet–Fidea
Discipline	Cyclo-cross Mountain bike Road
Role	Rider (retired) Team manager
Amateur team(s)
2014–2016	Crelan–AA Drink
Professional team(s)
1998–2008	Rabobank
2008–2013	Landbouwkrediet–Tönissteiner
Managerial team(s)
2016–	Telenet–Fidea
Major wins
Cyclo-cross World Cup Overall standings (2000, 2002, 2005, 2007–2009) 50 individual races Superprestige Overall standings (1999–2000, 2002–2003, 2005–2009, 2011–2014) 55 individual races bPost Bank Trophy Overall standings (2003, 2005–2011, 2014) 42 individual races World Championships (2005, 2013) National Championships (2000, 2003, 2005–2006, 2008–2010, 2012, 2014) Mountain biking National Championships (2005, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2015)
Medal record Representing  Belgium Cyclo-cross World Championships Sankt Wendel 2005 Elite Men Louisville 2013 Elite Men Sankt Wendel 2011 Elite Men Hoogerheide 2014 Elite Men Sint-Michielsgestel 2000 Elite Men Zolder 2002 Elite Men Treviso 2008 Elite Men Hoogerheide 2009 Elite Men Tábor 2010 Elite Men

Sven Nys (Dutch: [ˈsfɛn ˈnɛi̯s]; born 17 June 1976) is a former professional cyclist competing in cyclo-cross and mountainbike. With two world championships, seven world cups, and over 140 competitive victories, he is widely considered as one of the greatest cyclo-cross racers of his generation and of all time, and remains a prominent figure in cyclo-cross.^[1][2] Apart from cyclo-cross, Nys is also fivefold national champion mountainbike, and has competed in that discipline in two Olympic games.

Career overview

Early years

Born in Bonheiden, Belgium, Nys began racing BMX at the age of 8. He won eight BMX national titles before switching to cyclocross, a more popular sport in Belgium. He won the under-23 world championship in 1997 and 1998, beating another Belgian, Bart Wellens. Nys moved to the elite category in 1998–1999, joining the Dutch Rabobank team.

Becoming elite

In the élite class he won the Superprestige competition and came third in the national championships. The next season he won the Superprestige again, ended the World Cup as leader and became Belgian champion. This made him favourite for the 2000 world championship. But his Rabobank management told him not to beat his team-mate, the Dutchman Richard Groenendaal.^[3][4] Groenendaal sprinted away from the start and Nys was forced to hold back and not help another Belgian, Mario De Clercq, chase him. Groenendaal won and Nijs, who came third, was criticised in Belgium for choosing team over country.^[5][6][7] The Royal Belgian Cycling League demanded an explanation. It became more forgiving but the head coach, Erik De Vlaeminck, remained unconvinced.^[8][9]

Nys blamed an injury for not winning a season-long competition or championship in 2000–2001.^[10] A year later he won the World Cup and the Superprestige again. In the world championships that year he came third after being outsprinted by De Clercq and Tom Vannoppen. The following season Nys won the Superprestige for the fourth time as well as the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy for a first time. He became Belgian champion again, but Wellens won the world championship and the World Cup.

Wellens dominated 2003–2004. Nys' chance for the World Cup ended when other Belgians sprinted past him, taking points.^[11] Nys was angry that his countrymen had allowed Groenendaal, a Dutchman, to win the World Cup rather than him.^[12] That evening Nys decided from then on to ride for himself.

This is war. Thanks Vannoppen, thanks Van der Linden. This is the last thing I have done for the Belgian team. They can all go to hell. [...] Apparently there are some who take joy out of me not winning the World Cup. I know who and will take that into account next year. National team coach Rudy De Bie told me that he has never seen anything like this before. Our country loses the World Cup today.

— Sven Nys, after the Pijnacker race,^[12] translated from Dutch

The cannibal

Nys won everything of importance and at the end of 2004–2005 won the national and world championships, ended number one in the UCI rankings and World Cup, the Superprestige and the Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy. He is the only cyclo-crosser to achieve such dominance. Nys came close to repeating the feat the following season but he gave up in the world championship after a fall on the last lap.

Nys won all eight Superprestige races in 2006–2007. In the Superprestige he won 13 races from Hoogstraten in 2005 to Asper Gaver in 2007. That season he won the World Cup and the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy again, but neither the national or world championship. The national involved a lot of running, not Nys' talent, and were won by Wellens. At the world championship in Zeddam Nys fell three times: over Wellens, who fell because a television motor had hit one of the road markers; over Erwin Vervecken; and because of an error of his own. He finished 11th.

The following season, Nys won the World Cup, the Superprestige and the Gazet van Anterwerpen trophy again. He also won his fifth national championship. The Dutchman Lars Boom became champion of the world and Zdeněk Štybar took the silver, both barely 22 at the time. Nys, already nearing 32, came third.

Nys riding in the 2012 Kasteelcross Zonnebeke

Nys switched teams from Rabobank to Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner.^[13] Niels Albert, 2008's U23 world champion, joined the elite category that season, giving Nys another opponent. But Nys won all the season-long competitions and the national championship. Albert won the world championship, Štybar was second and Nys third. The Belgian press referred to Albert, Štybar and Nys as De Grote Drie (The Big Three), it was clear that Nys' years of absolute domination were behind him.

In his second mountain bike race Nys won the Belgian championship and then came ninth at the Olympic Games in 2008. On 31 December 2006 Nys won his 150th race with the elites, at Diegem.^[14][15] Four years later, he scored his 300th career win at the Koppenbergcross,^[16][17] one of the toughest races in the season.

Nys was appointed as a member of the inaugural UCI Athletes' Commission in 2011.^[18]

In 2013 Nys won the world championship a second time.^[19] He said his career was now complete.^[20]

On 10 February 2013, Nys won his 60th race in the Superprestige.^[21]

On 22 November 2015, Nys won the Koksijde round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Belgium, his fiftieth victory in the series. His win came seventeen years and a day after his first World Cup victory.^[22]

Sven Nys will call a halt to his career on 5-6 March 2016 at an event called "Merci Sven" to be held at the Antwerp Sportpaleis (Belgium).

Major results

Cyclo-cross

Mountain biking

Road racing

Results

Championships

Nys at the 2007 Noordzeecross.

World Cup

^[23][24][25]

NP: not participated

NH: not held

DNF: did not finish

NR: no ranking for individuals

Superprestige

^[26]

BPost Bank Trophy

Up until the season 2011–2012, this competition was called the Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy (GvA).

References

External links

• Official website
• Sven Nys profile at Cycling Archives

UCI Cyclo-cross World Champions – Men's elite race
1950 Jean Robic 1951–1953 Roger Rondeaux 1954–1958 André Dufraisse 1959 Renato Longo 1960–1961 Rolf Wolfshohl 1962 Renato Longo 1963 Rolf Wolfshohl 1964–1965 Renato Longo 1966 Erik De Vlaeminck 1967 Renato Longo 1968–1973 Erik De Vlaeminck 1974 Albert Van Damme 1975 Roger De Vlaeminck 1976–1979 Albert Zweifel 1980 Roland Liboton 1981 Hennie Stamsnijder 1982–1984 Roland Liboton 1985 Klaus-Peter Thaler 1986 Albert Zweifel 1987 Klaus-Peter Thaler 1988 Pascal Richard 1989 Danny De Bie 1990 Henk Baars 1991 Radomír Šimůnek 1992 Mike Kluge 1993 Dominique Arnould 1994 Paul Herygers 1995 Dieter Runkel 1996 Adri van der Poel 1997 Daniele Pontoni 1998–1999 Mario De Clercq 2000 Richard Groenendaal 2001 Erwin Vervecken 2002 Mario De Clercq 2003–2004 Bart Wellens 2005 Sven Nys 2006–2007 Erwin Vervecken 2008 Lars Boom 2009 Niels Albert 2010–2011 Zdeněk Štybar 2012 Niels Albert 2013 Sven Nys 2014 Zdeněk Štybar 2015 Mathieu van der Poel 2016 Wout Van Aert