Q_C&H = 100 * l^² * E^² / (D – d)

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This coefficient takes in account, and a lot, both length and difficulty, but also the place the cobbled sections are placed on the race, its distance from Roubaix’s Velodrome. We can analyze that simple, from a objective point of view the real importance of each and every cobbled section which will be ride next Sunday when they riders cross the cobbled paths from Nord-Pas-de-Calais. That’s our aim, finding new data and drawing our own conclusions, some of them really interesting beyond the obvious increase of difficulty and importance as the candidates to the win get closer to the finish line on Roubaix Velodrome.

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Arenberg, more about mysticism than about importance

Sages of cycling often say in the Forest of Arenberg it’s never won Paris – Roubaix but it’s often lost. Many have suffered this hellish 2400-meters-straight-line’s consequences, either a crash like Johan Museeuw in 1998 or a mechanical failure like Tom Boonen in 2011 there are some cycling myths whose options have been blown there, in the most famous forest in the little world of cycling. When Arenberg arrives it’s always stimulation for the fans, one of the season’s most beautiful moments, but in practice, its importance it’s never that high, as placed almost 100km from the finish line it’s not really relevant for the race even though lately some 4* cobbled sections as Wallers a Hélesmens y Hornaig a Wandignies have been placed after it in order to prevent massive regrouping.

Hornaig a Wandignies, real start of the action

Arenberg is a symbol and it will always be, there is where Paris – Roubaix starts for real. However, for practical purposes, the Forest of Arenberg is just the prelude of the section from Hornaig to Wandignies, which becomes the bisector of the first demanding group of sections, where in just 26 kilometers there will be more than 12 medium-high-difficulty cobbled kilometers before the toughness reduces before Mons-en Pévèle arrives.

Mons-en-Pévèle, a colossus wihout continuity

There are three 5* cobbled sections over Paris – Roubaix parcours, and Mons-en-Pévèle is the one with the lowest recognition by cycling fans. Placed 50km away from the finish line it would be an ideal moment for the main candidates to start battling more than one hour before the end for the victory, but it has a really big contra, there’s no real difficulty after it. It’s true that before Mons-en-Pévèle cyclists go through the difficult cobbled section Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée, the third longest section of the whole race which reduces the main groupe’s number of riders, so the team could play their moves to take advantage of the situation, but as there’s no continuity is worthless, the closest difficult cobbled section is Cysoing à Bourghelles, more than 20km away.

Le Carrefour de l’Arbre, a judge needs help

Every year pages and pages are written about the importance of Le Carrefour de l’Arbre. There is where the race is decided but the best riders. The ‘Café de l’Arbre’ and the famous railway barriers are witnesses every year of a very unique spectacle over the cobblestones, to continue a solo adventure or to split the leading group, but its real toughness it’s not its simple nature but its situation, right after the double cobbled section from Cysoing à Bourghelles and Camphin-en-Pévèle section, more than four high-difficulty cobbled kilometers which start just 10km before the last 5* section. Those ones do the ‘dirty job’ and finally the Carrefour de l’Arbre is the one which becomes the judge of the race.

The Velodrome awaits after Le Carrefour de l’Arbre

Because being realists, everyone who survives the last 5* cobbled section is capable to fight until the Velodrome… if the leading group is not broken, paradoxically, on the asphalt. That’s simple, the two 2* cobbled section and the testimonial Espace Crupelandt in Roubaix rated as 1* are not tough enough to blow the options to win one of the most special races for any contender on the leading group after Le Carrefour de l’Arbre.

The importance of the 4* cobbled sections

Before the race everyone focus on the 4* cobbled sections, there is where stories and history are written, but it’s easy to forget about the importance of the 4* cobbled sections. We’ve said it before, but it’s never bad to emphasize on the importance of Wallers a Hélesmens y Hornaig a Wandignies which prevent regrouping after Trouée d’Arenberg, Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée which function is to reduce the number of riders on the bunch before Mons-en-Pévèle or Cysoing à Bourghelles y el sector de Camphin-en-Pévèle which prepare the final selection before Le Carrefour the l’Arbre takes the final decision.

On their side there are their suppliers, Berria and FullWear, as well as Rotor and Spiuk, despite having been apparently pressured by Pino to make his alibi more credible by saying the payments were made, as there were some suspicious thoughts among the team. Some of these sponsors have even made statemets showing their support to those who have done their best for the team: Juanjo Oroz, Salva Guardiola, Mikel Bizkarra, Pablo Urtasun, still training together in the North, as well as Fran Reyes and Andrés Cánovas.

The fact is that Monday’s news are worse than every member of the team could have ever imagine, after a team meeting in Chile when they have asked Pino to leave the head of the team. That seemed to be the next chapter for the squad. The place: Spain. The date: February 12th. But these are the latest news known of Pino, who even sent some photos to Reyes showing him taking a flight -a flight nobody knows its destination-. What looked like a transfer of responsibilities ended up with Pino dissapearing into the nowhere with all the money from the sponsors (there’s no evidence he took any money from Viña Santa Cruz or Minera Candelaria, though).

“As much as I think about it, I don’t get what’s going on with Pino”, said sports director Jesús Buendía, during the program Demarraje. But the truth is that Juan Pablo Pino had been already charged with accusations of fraud before starting this adventure. He cheated Gonzalo Garrido, Trek‘s sales representative in Chile, with a quantity of 100,000 euros (admitted by himself here). The same he did with the bike shop Megapack Carbono -below, the statement of the shop’s owner accusing Pino of cheating-.

There are more issues going out there. Some of them mention the former Movistar rider Carlos Oyarzun among the ones cheated by Pino. According to some Spanish sources from the PinoRoad team, Oyarzun was the only who warned them about Pino being a cheater. They listened to him, but the signed contracts didn’t look suspicious and they went ahead, as practically everybody would have done in their case.

Both Buendía and Oroz commented during Monday’s radio program Demarraje that the Chilean adventure was a chaos. “It was all lies. The payments were going postponed and we knew something was going wrong”, said the sports director. In addition, they even got more worried after some Chilean riders told them Pino wasn’t trustworthy. “We reached a point where the Spanish part of the team decided to quit“, Buendía concluded.

This way, the current situation can be described with one single word: uncertainty. It’s all ready for the team to make their debut -scheduled on the 1st of March, Vuelta a Murcia-, so nobody in the team wants to give up. Both Chilean Cycling Federation and the UCI have offered a longer deadline for a solution to be given, and the team have given themselves a week to find the required funds so the project is not dead even before starting to ride (they are supposed to have been given that deadline, but it might be longer).

The initial budget was 650,000 euros, but Fran Reyes have mentioned on Chilean media that they could go ahead with less money. They could even start riding tomorrow with 250,000 euros while they fight to reach 450,000 euros, the minimum bugdet they have stablished themselves. That’s why they’re looking for Spanish companies with interests in Chile, or some Chilean ones that want to support the project. The work is done; both the Chilean Cycling Federation and the UCI also support a serious team looking forward to ride.

Cyclist suffer in February to pick up, later in March and April, the results of their hard work. And Tom Boonen understood that since the very first moment, as he just missed only last year’s race after a troubled Winter preparation. Coincidence or not, there’s a curious correlation between the Arabic race and his Monuments, namely, Milano – Sanremo, De Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris – Roubaix.

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If he wins Qatar, he wins a Monument

2006, 2008, 2009 & 2012

This is probably the most overwhelming fact among the ones showed here, and the easiest to analyze when it comes to explain the relation between the Qatari race and the Spring Monuments. Some riders prefer waiting a little longer to reach their peak, so they decide to make as less noise as possible during the races on the Middle East, being their participation based on economical interests rather than strictly sportive facts, while others, as Tom Boonen, face it differently.

A race that suits him perfectly and his extraordinary competitive nature are reasons enough to fight for the victory a month and a half before his big goals of the season, such as his best bunch sprint efforts, like in the good old days he’s now trying to get back. A long maintained effort becomes a success. Just this simple, when Tom Boonen has triumphed in Qatar has also triumphed on the Spring Classics, in RvV’06, PR’08, PR’09 and RvV’12&PR’12, his second doublet; a count that could be bigger, hadn’t he gave away MSR’06 to Filippo Pozzato.

If he wins Qatar, his team wins De Ronde

2006, 2008, 2009 & 2012

So, it’s obvious that everytime Tom Boonen is strong on middle February, he’ll be strong during the first weeks of April. And when Tommeke is strong there’s a race where his silhouette alone injects fear into his opponents. De Ronde van Vlaanderen. His race. He went there in 2006 wearing the rainbow jersey, with the number 1 on his back and his first Tour of Qatar on his record, and he didn’t fail, there he was, on the finish line with Leif Hoste, who was thundered on the sprint.

Then came 2008 and 2009, when in two almost identical editions Stijn Devolder took advantage of the infinite tactical superiority Boonen’s simple presence infused to get the biggest two successes on his career, two big successes that many people still think should had belonged to Tom Boonen, who anyway recovered himself winning a week later on Roubaix Velodrome both years. That’s how we get to 2012, a year when Tom Boonen became Tom van Vlaanderen when he reached Deman, Buysse, Magni, Leman y Museeuw getting his third victory by beating Pippo Pozzato and Alessandro Ballan just one week before becoming a legend on the Velodrome equalling De Vlaeminck’s successes with his fourth Roubaix victory.

photo: reuters

If he gets to the podium, there’s no Monument…

2004, 2007 & 2010

It was the year 2004 when a young Tom Boonen had just found his place on the peloton. After his spectacular performance on Paris-Roubaix two years earlier, when he took George Hincapie’s role in the race after the American suffered one of his many setbacks, there he was: a young 23-year-old cyclist on the top. Everybody was talking about that incredible project of Classics rider who had also amazing skills when he had to fight for bunch sprints. But he was still a little bit unexperienced on that field, so Robbie Hunter and Robbie McEwen, much more expert than him, shared most of the bonus seconds and the Southafrican got the final victory, the same softness that cost him the chance to win his first Monument. Different was the scenario on 2007 and 2010, when he was on the podium next to the winner, as one breakaway decided each edition in favour of Wilfred Crestekns and Wouter Mol -plus Geert Steurs-, two big surprises that kept him away of two victories that would have been of his own.

… but that’s how he gets to the podium in Sanremo

2007 & 2010

Much smaller was the surprise when he was just one step away of winning La Classicissima, probably the biggest miss in his career record, as it’s a big empty spot for such an important rider like him. Anyway, both years he was really close to the victory, one more reason to check his good form in Qatar, as this good form was also shown on March’s third Saturday. But in Via Roma he had to deal both times with a Cantabrian rider for whom Milano-Sanremo was always marked in red on the calendar, Óscar Freire.

On Freire’s first victory, when Boonen wasn’t able to stay in the bunch during the climb to the Poggio, he was Erik Zabel’s executioner, as he did again to the Belgian in 2007, relegating him to the third place, and in 2010 when he was second. The same place he got weeks later in Flanders, when in a legendary face-to-face Fabian Cancellara dropped him at the Kapelmuur.

2005, the exception

Tom Boonen is a legend. Equalling the leaders in the historic of victories on Paris-Roubaix (4) and De Ronde van Vlaanderen (3) and being the most laureated man ever on cobbled Monuments (7), the Belgian has another special fact on his register: he is the only rider ever adding the World Championship to the Spring cobbled doublet.

That milestone dates from 2005, the year he won his two first Monuments and a year when, paradoxically, he didn’t get the victory at Qatar, as Team CSC gave Tommeke his own medicine, isolating him from his team during the early kilometres of the third stage and then playing their chances perfectly with Lars Michaelsen and Matti Breschel while Guidi, Brunn Eriksen, Lombardi and Bak, who controlled the little group so their teammates could run away from Boonen, who finished more than five minutes away from them.

photo: AFP

A bad year in Qatar, a bad season

2011 & 2013

If the first fact here offered “If he wins Qatar, he wins a Monument” is evident, this one isn’t less. Two have been the black years for Tom Boonen during his career, 2011 and 2013, two seasons he contended the Spring Classics and couldn’t reach the podium in any of the three Monuments, and those years his performance in Qatar wasn’t good either. In 2011 it was a puncture in a critical moment which denied him the chance to fight for the final victory, but his image on the chase behind the typical jeep cars we saw during Tour of Qatar made many people think he would be at his top on April. Ultimately, though, he wasn’t, and despite winning his second Gent-Wevelgem he saw himself defeated in a year where four of the five Monuments were won by outsiders.

Two bad years, but 2013 was bad in a different way. An infection took him to the operation room to have a surgery on his elbow, so Oman took Qatar’s place during his preparation. His results were poor, the feelings not good at all for the upcoming main goals of the season, and after a few weeks they were confirmed when he abandoned Milano – Sanremo due to the bad weather conditions and later De Ronde due to a crash in the first hour of race. He couldn’t get on his bike for a long time and at the end of the year there was not doubt, it had been his worst season ever.

What if he’s second in Qatar and a teammate wins?

2007

This is the current situation during 2014. Niki Terpstra has won the race and Tom Boonen pleased himself with a double stage win and the second place in the General Classification, something similar to his results in 2007 when Wilfred Crestkens found himself in the breakaway on the fifth stage. He was the best on the overall classification due to the opening Team Time Trial and his presence on every move QuickStep – Innergetic played, so at the end he got the golden jersey in Doha. That year’s summary for Boonen is simple, podium at Milano-Sanremo and double dissapointment on the cobblestones, although months later he added Tour de France’s green jersey plus two stages to his trophy collection.

Bonus Track, let’s talk about the Worlds

It’s impossible to talk about Tom Boonen and Qatar without focusing on 2016, on the Cycling World Championship which the Arabic Emirate will hold. Those Worlds are foreseen really similar to the same main factors riders face when they visit the country, flat routes, desert, wind and good roads, the very same scenario Boonen has triumphed in during all this time. Rumours say the race will be during October, by the time the Belgian will turn 36, a considerable age, although knowing his love story with Qatar it’s not up to us to underrate his chances more than two years and a half away from that moment.

The obvious first question had to be about the reasons that led her to join Hitec Products. She needed a change in order to keep her motivation high: “I was bored of doing always the same calendar. I really needed to take a new start for this new Olympic preparation”. As many others, she’s already thinking of Rio 2016. But, why Hitec Products? It’s not by chance; she already liked the team before: “I knew Hitec since several years and I knew it was going to be one of the best teams for me, so I took my chance”.

Her only previous team had been Vienne Futuroscope, so this is quite a change for her. New faces, different language… “We had a first team meeting in November in Norway which was really fun, everybody is really nice, the staff is professional. It’s the first time I have to speak English 24/7, which is not easy and so exhausting but really enriching as well”. Having now some of the world’s top riders as teammates, her role is going to change, but she assumes it without any problem at all. “Yes, it’s true my role will be different, but this is what I wanted. You always have to challenge yourself and look for new objectives, and that’s what I’ve done. I expect to be a good teammate for Elisa [Longo Borghini], Ashleigh [Moolman], Chloe [Hosking] or Lauren [Kitchen], and I know Marc [Bracke, the sports director] will give me my chance too. It’s not a sacrifice, it’s just necessary to grow up!”

Foto: Facebook Audrey Cordon

Growing up, developing as a cyclist, that’s her goal. Despite being quite a complete rider, kind of an all-rounder, Audrey feels she has some specific areas to improve: “I need to improve my skills as a climber, especially in long, big mountains. It’s cool to be a good descender, but if you’re not in the first group at the top it’s not that useful”. Meanwhile, she can rely on her strongest capacities: “I can be a good rouleur and I really love time trials. But my strongest skill it’s my character, I never give up!”

Back in 2012, Audrey Cordon showed she could be a good contender for the big classics in the near future. Some exceptional results for her age (12th in Drenthe, 17th in Flanders) looked promising. However, her 2013 classics campaign ended up being less than satisfying: “I was really disappointed with my first part of the season compared to 2012. I had bad luck, got hit by a car just before Het Nieuwsblad and I really suffered with the cold in Belgium. However, I think my shape was better than ever!”. She still loves the classics anyway, and thinks they may be a realistic goal in the future: “In a short term I would like to perform well in the classics… why not a podium? And, as every rider I know, I have the Olympic dream!” She had already the chance to ride the Olympics, both road and time trial races, in London 2012, achieving a remarkable 15th place in the time trial.

Another big goal of hers is wearing the blue/white/red colours as a French national champion, having already been close to it in past editions. This year she’ll have to ride it alone, though, without the help of any teammates. Cordon feels confident anyway: “I think in France the fact of riding alone gives you more chances! Christel [Ferrier Bruneau] has been twice French champion, riding without teammates. You have to be the best and count only on yourself”.

The French cyclist scene is now turning a page, once the Jeannie Longo era seems to be definitely gone. Some young talents are rising. However, almost all of them are riding for foreign teams. According to Audrey, the conditions in France are not good enough for them: “It’s a real problem in France… Futuroscope [her former squad] is a good developing team but they have no money to be a real professional team. I’ve learned a lot with them, though, and I thank them for all their support”. She continues explaining the situation: “We have even asked for help from men’s professional teams but they are not interested in developing the French women’s cycling scene, so we need to leave”.

Enjoying her best win: Tour de Bretagne 2013 / Foto: © Chloé Lemarchand | VeloNova

A few days ago we got the news about this new race called La Course by Le Tour de France, which could be a first step to have a women’s Tour de France in the future. Audrey is completely supportive of the idea: “Yes I really support it! We need it! It’s financially possible, they just have to organize it. It’s not easy of course. But British [The Women’s Tour], Italian [Giro Rosa] got it done so why not?”. It looks that the movement of both fans and riders on social media, showing an increasing interest for women’s cycling, is achieving something. Being herself a very active Twitter user, she’s aware of it: “I try to show a good image of our sport, and communicating with people helps. Something is definitely going on, but it’s slow, and we would need more support from the UCI and the media”. She concludes it with an optimistic thought: “I think we may have a good future. Perhaps something like women’s tennis? We can dream…”

As every cyclist, Audrey Cordon has gone through both good and bad times during her career. Many of them are still to come, considering her age, but she has already some unforgettable moments. One of the worst is the 2006 junior World Championships, when she could almost feel the victory until the very bitter end: “I was alone in front for 40 km and they caught me just 1 km before the finish…”. On the other hand, she keeps great memories from her win at last year’s Tour de Bretagne: “Winning it at home, in front of my family and friends has been my best moment in cycling so far”.

Hello Marianne, how it’s going the season so far?

Actually quite good. I came into the second part of the season late, nearly on Christmas time. Since then it went quite well I am happy with my shape. Of course for me, not winning all the World Cups was not so great, but I won many other races. I took the dutch title last week thay it might not be a big surprise but still you have to win it. Now is time for the final preparation for the Worlds, every week I feel a little bit better, and it’s not that I going to make a big step, but I hope to be ready for the Worlds.

How do you see the Worlds then?, you have had a big battle with Katie Compton on most of the World Cup races.

Well, there are many other competitors, but Katie has been very strong at the races of the World Cup, and well, it seems like is going to be a battle between us, what is great, that’s good for the race, it gives emotion to the race and makes it more interesting, everybody looking at Katie… is she so good?, is Marianne less good than Katie?, but I think that I’m in a pretty good shape, just getting better and I don’t feel less good even though she made a great step this season. I have to try to keep it up with her.

The Worlds are in The Netherlands this year. It adds pressure to you or extra motivation?

Actually is both. But I have already raced other Worlds in The Netherlands, on 2006 and 2009, last one in Hoogerheide too. So I have done it before and that’s an advantage, it’s not new. And I know that the only thing I can do is to have the best trainings and preparation I’m capable of. Being really well prepared at the start line and then… do my best. So yes, there’s an extra pressure, all the dutch fans want me to win, some of them expect me to win and the only thing I can do is to do it the best way I know. And that extra pressure is going to turn in fans cheering me, and hearing my name yelled so many times during the race so I can give an extra push.

Photo: Cobbles&Hills

After the Worlds, are you planning to do more cyclocross races or to stop for the road season?

Our schedule is only until Lille, the week after the Worlds, it will be my last cyclocross race this season. Then I can focus on the road season again.

And for the road season, do you have already a race calendar?

Well, it looks like I’m going to get into the World Cups and it should be the normal road season. But first, a bit of rest after Lille and then there should be good training preparation for the road season. I have had a short cyclocross season but also quite intense, so I need to do some weeks of base training.

Regarding the road races, do you prefer the World Cup races and other single day races rather than the stages races?

It’s not that, I like both, but naturally I am more a classic rider, a one day rider, more explosive and less a climber. But when I’m in a really good shape I can keep up with the real climbers so I can do it well at the stage races. For me it was great to do that twice for example in the Giro d’Italia. So yeah, that ability was something I didn’t know that I had and it’s good to do that as a challengue.
Therefore this year I hope to do it well once again in the Giro, for us the women is the greatest race, and well, you are from Spain and it would be great to have La Vuelta and Le Tour de France too, but for now we only have the Giro. So yes, the Giro is a goal, and of course, coming back to Spain, Ponferrada for the road Worlds.

What about the Ponferrada course, do you know it? There was some criticism from some spanish media about not being hard enough.

I have heard that it’s a hard one, and it looks hard, not so much as last year’s in Florence, but still a hard one. We will be there probably on June to reccon the course before the stage race Emakumeen Bira. And well, in the end a course is like it is and we have to cope with it. At the London Olympics it wasn’t really a hard course for us too, and then you have to work on a proper plan with your team and actually we tried to make a hard race. And I think that we have a strong team and it doesn’t really matter on what course we have to race, but of course if it’s a hard one it makes you easier to do the selection.

How do you plan the preparation for the road Worlds without a lot of races to choose?

We have the Giro on June, some World Cups on August like Sparkassen Giro in Germany, the Open de Suède Vargarda in Sweden and the GP de Plouay-Bretagne in France, and another race in Holland the at the begining of September, which is important for us as a dutch team. I think that we don’t have a big gap until the Worlds since the last races so the preparation should not be a problem.

How do you see the present situation and future of women road cycling scene at worldwide level? In countries like Spain some good riders have to emigrate and race for italian teams for example. For most of them, making a living from cycling is not possible.

At this moment there are two important countries for women cycling, Italy and The Netherlands. Luckily I was born in Holland I had access to the facilities, the Federation support, they do a very good work with the young riders to help them, for their development. But well, only a few women riders can live from cycling and do it as full time job, and then it’s hard to get it more professional, because many of them, under the professional level are still at job or at school, and the thing is, how do you close the gap?, it’s not easy… If the professionals can train more and better, have more rest and live as a professional with all that this implies… that’s a huge gap. Anyway I think that things are getting better, I can see it through the years, even just in the last two years you see like the scen is growing. In cyclocross there it has been a lot of change in ten years, we have the Worlds, the World Cup series, the bpost Trofee, the Superprestige. So is getting better and better, it’s not all about money but of course it helps, the start money and the prizes. And on the road scene you see that the teams are getting more and more professional and more balanced, there is a minimum wage. Actually it’s not too bad but we still have some steps ahead.

Now with the new UCI’s president, Mr Cookson, it’s a change. I’m happy with Mr. McQuaid, I think he did his best, but I also think that Cookson has some really strong points to work on and now is the time to make a change and go further, because we grew but now we are stuck. In order to go to the next level of women cycling, we need to give some steps and the UCI can help there a lot.

Today Sven Nys was making his dèbut with his new team, the Crelan AA Drink Team, and he was also making it together with something that has bringed along big expectations and interest, his brand new Trek Boone bicycle. To celebrate the New Year we went to Baal, where Sven lives and where every 1st of January the Grote Prijs Sven Nys cyclocross race is held. Thousands of spectators come to enjoy this race every year and its enviroment and tradition is growing as the Sven Nys living legend does.

After the race, and the obvious podium ceremony, we had the pleasure to meet Sven and talk for a while. Let’s discover what he told us.

©Cobbles&Hills

How it was the race today Sven?

Well, I felt myself really strong, but I was really nervous… new team, new sponsors, new bike, my own race, all the people coming here to watch the race and expecting me to win… so there it was a lot of stress and now I am happy that it’s over. It wasn’t easy, but I was the strongest and I already saw that on last week with the victories in Loenhout and Diegem.

Indeed, taking a look at the last races, it seems like you are the strongest guy…

Yes, but actually most of them have been hard races, muddy ones, hilly ones, running with your bike on your shoulder, demanding technical skills, and these are the ones that I prefer. A race like the one in Zolder is a little bit difficoult for me, it’s too fast. But on races like the one today, latelly and for now I’m the strongest.

So your focus now is on keeping this level until the World Championship in Hoogerheide.

Sure, but it’s not easy. There is still a month ahead, I have to hold this level without getting sick. Nevertheless I believe that it’s better to be in this situation rather than the possibility of losing today’s race and being on need to improve my fit until the Worlds. For now I’m happy with my condition and I hope I can keep it.

What about the Belgium Championship?

Yes, it is on the next week, after the World Cup in Rome. So, normally when I get recovered of these last hard races I should be part of the top favourites. And to be honest I hope that it rains on next week to make a hard race, and in that situation normally the rider with the best condition can win the race.

And what do you say about the next race, the Rome World Cup. It’s not one of the best courses for you, is it?

Yeah that’s true, but my condition is good and I will try to have a good race over there. I don’t think about winning, just relax and maybe I can win, but we’ll see. I will try do to my best, but mentally for me, I have to admit that today’s race was more important for me.

Sven, I guess that you are very happy with the new team, Crelan AA Drink Team and the project and contract with Trek Bikes.

Indeed, I’m very happy, I’ve signed a contract for two years and I’m getting 38 this season. I feel myself very strong, and actually I think that I have never been so strong before. Apart from the contract, racing with new sponsors, new bikes and equipment, well, that is also good for my mind. So racing the last two years of my career with these new bikes and team is something really special.

What does it mean to you the fact of changing from Colnago to Trek Bikes after so many years?

It is not so easy. I liked and enjoyed Colnago bikes during the last 15 years, but now I have a contract with Trek and they have given me a very special bike. The technology that this Trek bike has, it’s way more developed and advanced than in any of the cyclocross bikes that we have seen so far. So when you are the world champion and you have the chance of signning a contract with the best bike, you have to do it. I had that chance and now I am happy that I am part of the Trek family, and I hope to help to develope the bike during the upcoming years.

But Sven, if I am not wrong, this is not just a new team with new sponsors and a brand new bike. This project is something else, isn’t?

That’s true. We are talking about a sponsor like Trek, that comes from another continent, a place where cyclocross is growing up really fast. In order to promote cyclocross over there, the fact of winning today with an US branded bike helps a lot to our sport, and that’s what we need to show a good image of cyclocross in the US.

Related to this matter of promoting cyclocross out of the Belgium borders, a few days ago you held a meeting with the UCI and some major belgium race promoters.

Well, we want to promote cyclocross in Europe, not only in Belgium, but in the countries where cyclocross was a popular and a well known sport in the past, like Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, etc. But for the moment there is a big interest coming out of the US. We have to take that interest and do something with it. There is a lot of races over there, many bicycle manufacturers interested in cyclocross, so we have to develope that potential. Hopefully I will do some races in the US in the beginning of the season to promote cyclocross there. And we’ll see what happens, but every small step counts to promote our sport.

I guess that the UCI has also a big interest into this worldwide movement, same as they have with the road racing scene in the US or Asia.

Definitely. Nowadays with the Internet and the livestream posibilities you can watch cyclocross races from almost any place of the world, and that’s what we need. Cyclocross is a great sport to be broadcasted on the t.v., it’s emotional and exciting. It’s just like what we have seen today here in Baal, in one hour race so many things can happen, everything can change, if you go to the toilet you might miss something interesting of the race. And I think that such a show is what people demand and maybe not sitting in front of your screen to watch a bike race for five hours until that finally something interesting happens. Cyclocross is a young sport, and we can grow, definitelly we can grow.

And the USA, the land of Trek Bikes…

That is something that helps, it helps a lot.

Also the last season, the world title that you won in Lousville.

I think that it was the start of everything. For the very first time the Wolrd Championships were being held in another continent, US was the country and I think that they saw that cyclocross is something really special. And it was a great race to promote our sport, there, there it was emotion until the last lap.
At the beginning of this season I went back to Vegas with the aim of promoting cyclocross, and on that time, already as World champion. So all these things help to develope cyclocross at all levels and I am happy for being part of that and helping my sport.

Sven, how did it go with the new bike today, the new Trek Boone? As far as I know you could only tested it for just a few days.

Yeah, and always on the road. I’ve never trained with it on the woods or in the cyclocross track. So I was nervous, but the bike was really well and I’ve had no problems with it, it was fine on every corner, I jumped the obstacles, it was fine on the downhill section… Definitely it’s a good start with the new bike.

And from now on, are you going to race only with disc brakes?

No. When there is a fast race and you don’t need to brake that much I will race with the cantilever brakes bike. The reason is that the cantilever bike is still lighter than the disc brakes one. For the most demanding courses, with very technical sectors and tricky downhills, I will use the disc brakes bike. And well, It’s great that I have the possibility for every race to choose the bike that I want to ride with.

©Cobbles&Hills

What about the new project of the Sven Nys Cycling Center here in Baal?

It is under construction and development, starting it with the today’s race on the track. In principle it should be finished and working when I finish my racing career. We are going to build a house on the top of the hill, a permament cyclocross track where the young kids, but also a mountain bike track, bmx, trial bikes. And also conceived for the tourists, with a cyclocross museum, a cantina where parents can wait while the kids are training. It’s going to be really nice and I hope that it works out once that I am done with racing.

Therefore, is that possible that you focus on this project when you finish your racing career?

No doubt about it, that’s what I want to do. I have many other ideas and we will see what happens, but this project is the main idea, a project within the sport and I do have a lot of experience about cyclocross and to transmit that to the young kinds… that’s what I want to do.

Talking about rookies and young talents, who do you think that are the upcoming future on the ciclocross scene?

Wout Van Aert and Mathieu Van der Poel. Both of them are really strong and the are very talented, and I think that they are growing up quite fast. In the next years you are going to see them on the top level. That’s a good thing for the sport, new people and names. And it’s also a good thing that there are new people from out of Belgium, like Van der Poel. Let’s hope that he keep on racing cyclocross… his father Adri was a race cyclist so let’s see what happens. But well, we also have Lars van der Haar, UCI ranking leader, World Cup leader, third place at the last World Championship,… he’s also a young guy that can help to develope and promote this sport.

Nevertheless Lars Van der Haar is signning now with a road team. As it happened to Lars Boom or Stybar by switching into road racing, what do you think about this movements?, maybe a threat for cyclocross?

In the case of Lars I don’t think so, he is going to race only cyclocross and he just will prepare himself on the road with the road team to be ready for the winter. And if there is interest from road teams, like the Quick Step with Stybar, that’s not bad, he’s still doing some races and it’s a good thing that there are more teams racing cyclocross. This sport is a small world but if you have more teams it just looks bigger. When you have eight riders or more from the same team, I don’t think that it’s a nice thing in such an small world.

It’s like a monopoly…

Right, that’s the reason why I believe that is better if we have more teams.

Regarding to your trainning plan this season, have you gone to Mallorca from time to time as in previous seasons?

Yes, always, I go there every year. I think that I stay there for about ten or twelve weeks every year. I have an apartment in Mallorca so I can go whenever I want.

But the decission of training there, does it depends on certain moments of the seasons, specific targets?

Indeed. For example, if I think that there are some races on which I can’t focus or compete at my best, than I might travel to Mallorca, I train there and I put the focus at hundred per cent into other goals. I was there on December and I may come back on January to get ready for the Worlds.

From now onwards, with the new project with Trek, how do you plan the off season, from March to September?, are you changing your usual planning?

Definetely I will go a few times to the US for promoting and marketing reasons. We want to expand cyclocross there. They also have the Trek World show and I will stay there a few days to promote the bike, and also with the road guys. I’m gonna do more races in the US in the beginning of September. Trek has its own race in Madison, where I am going to race. And after that we will see, if they have another proposal maybe we can do something else.

And for the training… from May to September I will take part on some mountain bike races and some road races. Nothing changes on this sense, same as last years.

On last week, you achieved a nice milestone, 350 victories since you started your professional career. Do you have a personal goal of victories or record?

That was nice but no, it’s not that I want to beat some records. I try to win every week, every race and to develope my sport. And let’s see what happens at the end of my career and how many victories I have. So far I am very happy with what I have achieved.

Note: Cobbles&Hills and Enrique Abelleira would like to thank Sven Nys for his time, to Benny and also to the Trek Bikes and team members at Baal.

From your perspective as a photographer, what are your views on women’s cycling? Do you see any signs for a better future?

Yes, definitely. There are more, and better teams now, and it’s also very important that there are more pro men’s teams with women’s squads coming, even more in the future, I think. Also, the top riders are getting more attention so everything it’s becoming bigger and bigger.

How do you see the organization of Emakumeen Bira compared to other important international races?

It’s very, very good, both for the riders and the rest of us. For example, personally I didn’t expect to find wifi connection here in the bar and that makes my job a lot easier. They have a variety of drinks: water, cola… after the race, which is great for all of us -not every race offers this-. The roads are very well prepared, so the cars and vehicles are where they have to be. It’s very safe, and that’s essential, because safety is more important than the race itself.

It’s really good to hear that… to be honest, I didn’t expect such a positive answer.

Yeah, it really is!

Why did you become a cycling photographer?

Well, first of all because I’m a cyclist myself. I started to make photographs for the website of my sister. Then I got a bigger camera and, as there’s not so much coverage of the women’s races and I am there all the time it’s easier to do it. I work for the agency Cor Vos, which is very famous in Holland, and back when I started there was only coverage of the men’s races, basically. Now women’s races are getting more attention and that’s also important.

Anton during the interview

What has been the best and the worst thing that has happened to you while doing this work?

The worst was this year in Cittiglio, during the Trofeo Binda, because my camera was not well set up and I was taking blurry pictures all the time! The best one was also in Italy, last year in the Giro Donne, when I took a picture of Marianne riding with the pink jersey with the Colosseum of Rome as background and that, as a photographer, was really amazing.

I know the picture you’re talking about and it’s indeed amazing!

Yeah! And the best thing overall was being at the Olympic Games in London, but I couldn’t make photographs there, because one of the guys of our agency already had an acreditation, and the organization was very strict with the acreditations.

In your experience, which riders do you consider the most photogenic?

Scandinavian and Italian riders, Anna Sanchís [laughs], and… well, I can say more names but I have my personal favourites [laughs again]. There’s Evie Stevens who is always smiling and also Marta Bastianelli who always puts funny faces. So maybe it’s not exactly what you’re asking about, but they’re great when it comes to taking funny pictures.

The one with Sabrina Stultiens and Marianne Vos you took yesterday [Saturday 8th of June] on the podium was also good!

Yes, indeed. That’s a funny picture [laughs].

Let’s talk a little about your sister Marianne now. Being the older brother, when did you realize that she was going to be a phenomenon? I mean, when she still was very young…

My father always said that she could go very far, but how far, when didn’t know yet back then. When you’re very young it’s hard to make predictions, you don’t know when the progression is going to end, but by the time she was a junior rider we already saw she was extremely talented and was getting bigger and bigger. Last year, in 2012, she had an amazing season, with the Olympics and the Worlds…

Yes, basically a perfect year. Do you think she still can improve even more?

She can improve, but now she’s focusing on being better with the mountain bike so it’s more about improving in other disciplines.

But in road racing, do you think she already reached the top with the Olympics last year?

Yeah, yeah. But that’s the point, that was her main goal as a rider and everything that comes now on the road is basically a bonus for her.

Thanks to @babelia1 for her collaboration during the interview.