With the Netherlands recently dominating in the women’s Cyclocross Worlds and sweeping the podium, it’s no secret that Belgium could use a little help to close the gap.
Last week, Nys attempted to offer this helping hand through one of his recent training camps at the Sven Nys Academy. In a recent Facebook post, Nys announced that he would be dedicating the whole week to cultivate a new generation of female racers. “The whole week long, the girls aged 6 to 14 get our attention. The Sven Nys Academy gives them the chance to learn from each other, gain confidence and enjoy.” [translated]
Much like the women’s Montana Cross Camp, Nys’ camp was targeted exclusively toward females. Nys explains that this is to prevent a barrier between boys and girls should the camp be co-ed.
“The quality of my after career is not in telling where I won, but in sharing my experience with a new generation.” -Nys [translated]
The camp takes a different approach to Sven’s other camps. Instead of endless, grueling training, the camp emphasized having fun with peers in order to create a stress-free environment. The aforementioned training consisted of mostly bike agility but Nys plans to add more when he feels his students are ready.
“The quality of my after career is not in telling where I won, but in sharing my experience with a new generation,” he said in a Tweet [translated].
Nys’ selfless actions are felt all throughout the cycling realm. With cyclists like Nys, the future of cyclocross looks bright!
De kwaliteit van mijn na carrière zit niet in het vertellen waar ik heb gewonnen, maar in het delen van mijn ervaring met een nieuwe generatie. #keepmoving pic.twitter.com/DusDeuZ7P8
— Sven Nys (@sven_nys) July 21, 2020
