Nieuwenhuis tried to keep up with Van der Poel and Van Aert, but knows: "This was the best possible result"

The World Cup race in Maasmechelen was advertised beforehand as the clash between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert; all eyes were on them. Ultimately, Van der Poel lived up to that favorite role by prevailing. Van Aert finished second. But number three, Joris Nieuwenhuis, is a story in itself.

With an impressive display of power, Van der Poel was flying over the course. He finished over a minute ahead of Van Aert and was almost two minutes faster than Nieuwenhuis. Mistakes by Van Aert prevented a real duel, so the victory was never at risk. But enough about the two stars, Nieuwenhuis proved himself to be the best of the rest, which was an extremely handsome performance.

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Joris Nieuwenhuis last season

The route to the podium in Maasmechelen

Joris Nieuwenhuis's performance can be called impressive. This season, he has repeatedly suffered setbacks due to a persistent shingles infection, which meant his comeback had to be postponed each time. He returned to the Dutch National Cyclo-cross Championships only two weeks ago, where he immediately secured a podium place. An eighth place followed last week in Benidorm, and now he is back on the podium. Nicely done after such a difficult period.

After the Dutch National Cyclo-cross Championships, we spoke to a relieved Joris Nieuwenhuis. "If you look at the past months, in which I was not healthy and could not ride races, I am happy with this result," he told us. Nieuwenhuis also considered the difficult period a valuable learning experience. "In every difficult phase, you learn a lot. They sometimes say: You win some, you learn some. In the beginning, it is difficult to see it that way, but at a certain moment, you do," said the Dutch rider.

But the former Dutch champion was feeling down, he said. "It gave me a helpless feeling that I didn't know from other injuries. There was no protocol we could follow. In the end, the prescription was to rest even more. So, I was on the bench for three weeks when everyone started the season. Every day I felt my fitness decline more and more until little was left. It made me feel insecure. Am I going to get to the level this year? How is the team going to find this? What is wrong with me?"

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Nevertheless, the former Dutch champion was in quite a mess, he said before. "It made me feel helpless, which I didn't know from other injuries. There was no clear recovery protocol to follow. In the end, the only solution was to take even more rest. While everyone started the season, I was on the sofa for three weeks. Every day, I felt my condition decline further until there was almost nothing left." That uncertainty weighed heavily on him. "Will I still be at the level this year? What does my team think about this? And what exactly is going on with me?"

Retreat did wonders, and Nieuwenhuis is back on the podium in the World Cup

We also spoke several times to his trainer, Richard Groenendijk, about the following recovery process. "During two weeks in recovery, it got worse, which was a bitter pill. Especially for himself, of course, after he had such a good year last year. We completely reset, and he went to Spain for over three weeks. When Joris went to Spain alone, he felt very down. That's when I did think, holy cr*p, will he keep it all together?"

After the retreat in Spain, the trail to the top was rediscovered. Eventually, that resulted in a successful comeback at the Dutch National Cyclo-cross Championships; that success has now been carried through to Maasmechelen. "This was the best possible result for me, yes," said Nieuwenhuis in the flash interview. "One of my first goals was to have a perfect start because I had to come from the third row, and when you get behind on this lap, it gets tough. I tried to follow Mathieu and Wout a bit but knew I had to ride my own pace. It was still a tough fight with Joran at the end, but luckily, I'm finishing on the podium here," said the Ridley Racing Team rider.

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