As it was said by legendary Pacific Northwest Racer, Richard McClung
With the recent last race of Sven Nys, we’ve seen a lot of proclamations of “Pure class”, etc. Now, I don’t deny that Nys was the greatest ‘cross racer of all time thus far; and I’m not trying to be too judgmental (Nys knew who buttered his bread), but I think many either forgot, or never knew about this sordid little affair: The 2000 World Championships. Let me summarize: Richard Groenendal (Nys’ trade team teammate on Rabobank) forges an early lead. Nys then refuses to help his Belgian Worlds teammate and defending World Champion Mario DeClercq chase, much to DeClercq’s visible frustration. Be sure to watch the very uncomfortable post race interview at the end, and hear Nys deny he was under ‘team orders’. No one who knows a lick about bike racing believes that…
And with that, CX ends, Nys retires, and road season starts. We’re back riding too, just more off road, with road bikes.
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