Belgian rider Nick Nuyens finished third overall in the Tour of Britain last year, then went on to win Paris-Brussels. This time round, he took the outright victory in the British race as well as two stage wins. Another strong autumn seems to be in store. When asked by the media at yesterday's post-race press conference if he deliberately targets the end of season, Nuyens said that he traditionally comes good at this time of year.
"Every year is like that. I haven't done the Tour de France in the last three years and so I am starting to train again then. I always get sick in the middle of August, most of the time it is my stomach. When I am getting better I know that my legs are coming.
"But before I was a professional, I did some studies in the University. It was always June for the studies, then in July try to get into better condition. In August my condition would arrive, and it is still like that. But I don't really know why."
Nuyens said that he is becoming increasingly confident. "It started last year, here. I think last year it was because I was in third place overall and then I started to believe that I was a really good rider. Then I started to win, taking Paris-Brussels. When I came back here this time round I knew it was a good race for me, so I wanted to win. My main goal was to take a stage win. But after the first stage I reconsidered my ambition, thinking maybe it was possible for the general classification. So now for the future, it gives me a lot of hope to win a bit more."
Another question put to Nuyens was if he and the team had been concerned about a possible security threat in London. "Before we came we talked about it, but once you are here you don't think about it anymore," he replied. "If you started to think like that, you have to stay at home. If it can happen in London, it can happen in Brussels, it can happen in Paris. You have to get on with things."
