"Joris was a gift for us"; thus, Nieuwenhuis ended up with Baloise Trek Lions.

Joris Nieuwenhuis has been back to full-time racing for only a year and a half, and this winter has proven to be highly rewarding for him. The Dutchman made the transition from road cycling to focus on cyclo-cross, resulting in winning the Dutch championship and securing second place at the World Championships. His team, Baloise Trek Lions, is delighted with this success.

Did he anticipate this resurgence himself? "Yes and no. It was my goal, and that's what I was aiming for, but you never know how it will go. I worked hard for it, and I am very happy that this is the result," he noted after his silver-medal performance at the cyclocross World Championships in Tábor. After spending several years in the WorldTour with DSM, where he also participated in the Tour, Nieuwenhuis decided to return to cyclo-cross, resulting in this remarkable success.

Team owner Sven Nys had already praised the bearded Dutchman two weeks ago, a sentiment echoed in the Czech Republic by Baloise Trek Lions' sports director, Eric Braes, to IDLProCycling.com. Braes explained precisely how Nieuwenhuis ended up with the team, stating, "Joris was a gift; it fell into our lap. He expressed interest in joining our team, and then we thought: we need to start the conversation because you have demonstrated exceptional talent, and we believe you can continue to do so."

Baloise Trek Lions quickly saw that Nieuwenhuis was doing just fine

Nieuwenhuis, already a world champion in the U23s in 2017, quickly felt at home. 'In the road program that was already good, and then that also flows together in the winter, which was very nice to see,' said Braes, who foresaw the connection with Lars van der Haar, Pim Ronhaar, and Thibau Nys. 'Besides evaluating how someone rides, you always have to ask yourself what kind of character someone is. That's how you attract guys and start working with them. The connection is there, even though everyone is in their own camper. It's all very nice, and I'm very content with it," he sounded proud.

Good news for the Belgian team: they can continue for a while with their successful foursome. 'You then have a team and bring in young riders after consultation with Sven. There are riders available, and you have to make a choice, which worked out very well for us. I'm especially happy that it's like this and that they understand each other blindly. We have all four of them committed to us for a longer period of time, so we are in a very good position," Braes says, looking to the future.