Sven Nys emerged victorious in the Parkcross in Maldegem. Considering the circumstances, our world champion did well and finished fifth. “The legs weren't too good, but they were better than last year. I'm looking forward to the weekend,” Styby said after the race.
Our favorite had a busy schedule following the world championships. After St. Wendel, Zdenek had a number of commitments, but he still managed to find a few hours to train. “I didn't want to get blown away today. I didn't play a significant role in Maldegem last year and I wanted to prevent that from happening again.”
Styby did just that and was competitive in the race. After a good half hour, there was a lead group of seven riders including Niels Albert, Sven Nys, Kevin Pauwels, Klaas Vantornout, Sven Vanthourenhout, Bart Wellens and our man Zdenek. But an attack by Albert on the final lap was too much for the champion.
In the end, a quartet fought it out for the victory and Nys turned out to be the strongest. Zdenek finished back in fifth, 12 seconds behind the winner. “It went better than I expected. The crowd really cheered me on. I enjoyed it a lot. Before the race I thought I'd finish two minutes back, but luckily that wasn't the case.”