Chicken sandwich, beer, wine or champagne? Joris Nieuwenhuis up for all of it following silver World Championship medal!

World Championship podium finishers and the hunt for press provisions after their race, it has been quite the weekend in Tábor. Puck Pieterse and co were served carrot cakes on Saturday, while Joris Nieuwenhuis, Michael Vanthourenhout and Mathieu van der Poel had to make do with cooked chicken sandwiches after their excellent performance on Sunday. MVDP politely declined, but Nieuwenhuis and Vanthourenhout were happy to dive in.

Not surprising, considering the battle the two had in a suburb of Tábor. Nieuwenhuis closely followed Van der Poel in the first rounds and seemed to ultimately have to pay the price for it, but he still managed to keep the approaching Vanthourenhout at bay in the final rounds of this World Championship in the Czech Republic. An excellent performance, especially for those who know Nieuwenhuis' story.

Last cyclo-cross winter, after several years in the WorldTour, he made the switch back to cyclo-cross, which had been a great love in his youth. This season, the bearded Dutchman fully blossomed, and look at him now: in the first month of 2024, he became Dutch champion and now also second in the World Championship, just behind perhaps the best cyclo-cross rider of all time, Van der Poel.

Did he expect this himself? "Yes and no. It was my goal and I went for it, but you never know how things will turn out. I worked hard for it and am very happy that this is the result," said Nieuwenhuis, of whom you can be sure of one thing: you always get an honest answer out of the man. He indicated that winning in Tábor was never truly a realistic possibility at any point. In the first rounds, however, he seemed to keep pace with Van der Poel quite well.

"I didn't exactly know what was happening, but I was quickly behind Mathieu with Niels Vandeputte. I didn't see any of the top favorites behind us, so then I knew there was a big opportunity for me," Nieuwenhuis said, who claimed to be unaware of the start issues faced by Lars van der Haar, Thibau Nys, Pim Ronhaar and Vanthourenhout, among others.

Nieuwenhuis was propelled forward by the crowd in Tábor

"It wasn't until after a few rounds that I had a good grasp of the situation, but by then I had already tried to follow Mathieu. After three rounds, I started to find it quite tough and even doubted for a moment whether I would be able to keep it up," continued the Dutchman. "Luckily, I was able to keep Michael at bay, so this second place is the best I could achieve. Of course, you always hope for more, but I knew that winning would be difficult anyway."

The conditions were also in Nieuwenhuis' favor, though not throughout the entire race. "Those barriers, whew... They were already very high to begin with, and they seemed to get higher each round. Downhill, I tried to catch my breath each time, so I could give it my all from the bottom to the top every round. It was a tough day, but the crowd also kept me focused. I was riding alone quickly and knew others could still approach from behind, but the cheers kept my strength up."

Winner Van der Poel was not sure if there would be much of a celebration ("I have an early flight on Monday"), but if it's up to Nieuwenhuis, the riders' hotel will not see a quiet night. "I'm ready for a party. Champagne? Not sure if my body is ready for that, but still," laughs the ever-friendly Dutchman, who also comes up with a perfect answer to our final question. "Beer or wine? Both!"