Sweeck, on behalf of the establishment, deeply impressed by Thibau Nys' rise: "He made the biggest leap out of everyone"

Sweeck no longer feels the muscle tear in his calf. "I can sense that the injury is no longer an issue, although it might still be a weak point. I was fortunate that the injury was in my calf, allowing me to continue cycling at a low intensity. I could hardly walk, though. If the tear had been in my hamstring, I might have incurred even more training setbacks. At the moment, I'm not experiencing any pain."

The Crelan-Fristads team leader has fallen behind his competitors due to the injury. He has missed out on points in the World Cup and lacks race fitness. "I can't make up for that point deficit. I just have to assume that everyone has a bad day at some point, and mine has already happened. However, I can't afford another mishap. For now, the plan is to approach the World Cup as originally intended. The points system also favors the winners. You can quickly make up ground with very good results. There might still be some possibilities."

Sweeck seems to find the lack of race fitness more troublesome than his point deficit in the World Cup. "Overijse was my first full cyclocross race, and that was at the end of October. I'm not used to that. Usually, I need a few races to really get into form. That's why I'm here in Woerden as well. I've lost some intensity, and I'm trying to catch up now. It's my first time here, so that's also nice. It's a change from going to Ruddervoorde for the tenth time, so to speak."

In the cyclocross race, Sweeck demonstrated a considerably high level. Together with Pim Ronhaar, he dominated the opening phase. The Belgian consistently found himself at the front and never really had to rectify a challenging situation. Even when Lars van der Haar encountered problems, the Belgian was on the ball. He didn’t give the accelerating Ronhaar any room. The young talent has clearly made strides compared to last season, as evidenced by his third-place finish in the World Cup in Waterloo. Hence, he could become a contender to Sweeck in that classification. "That doesn’t surprise me, actually," says Sweeck.

Ronhaar, as well as Thibau Nys, have indeed been developing well over the years. "I think both guys have proven multiple times that they can do it, but the season has only just begun. Anything can happen. I think Thibau has made the biggest step of everyone this season. In any case, what is a fact is that we have a new strong block in the cross," he refers to the teams Pauwels Sauzen (Eli Iserbyt and Michael Vanthourenthout) and Baloise Trek Lions (Ronhaar, Nys, Van der Haar, and Joris Nieuwenhuis). In fact, only Sweeck doesn’t have the luxury of a strong block. "But that wasn’t a problem last year either."

After all, Ronhaar, as well as Thibau Nys, have been developing well for years. "I think both guys have proven several times that they can do it, but the season has only just started. Anything can still happen. I think Thibau has made the biggest step out of everyone this season. In any case, what is a fact is that we have a new strong block in cyclocrossing," he refers to the teams Pauwels Sauzen (Eli Iserbyt and Michael Vanthourenthout) and Baloise Trek Lions (Ronhaar, Nys, Van der Haar and Joris Nieuwenhuis). Actually, only Sweeck does not have the luxury of a strong block. "But that wasn't a problem last year either."

Back to the cyclocross in Woerden. After Ronhaar overexerted himself and had to let go, Van der Haar and Sweeck were left in the final. The two were neck and neck, constantly taking the lead from one another. In the final round, it was still uncertain who would win, until Van der Haar overtook Sweeck at a crucial moment, a fact that even surprised the Dutchman himself.

Sweeck couldn’t catch up and had to settle for second place. Afterwards, he still walked to the podium with a smile. "You're in good form, aren’t you, Laurens?", we called after him. A broader smile, followed by an approving nod, came from his side.