Sven Nys Cyclist
Sven Nys is a professional cyclist who has won his most important victories in cyclo-cross races. Nys began racing BMX at the age of 8. He won eight BMX National titles before switching his focus to cyclocross and road racing. In 2005 he became the first cyclo-crosser to achieve the Grand Slam: he won both championships, ended as #1 at the UCI Rankings and won the Superprestige and the GvA Trophy. In only his second race as a mountain bike racer he won the Belgian Championships and he ended ninth at the Olympic Games in 2008, ahead of the more experienced Belgian competitors. On 31 December 2006, Nys scored his 150th career win at Superprestige #6 Diegem, Belgium – C1 and went on to win the first race of 2007, the race named after him, the Grand Prix Sven Nys. 4 years later, Nys scored his 300th career win at the Koppenbergcross, one of the toughest races in the season. Nys is considered one of the greatest cyclo-cross racers ever by his peers and prominent figures of the cyclo-cross world; and the leading man in cyclo-cross in the 21st century.
