How do you prepare yourself for the final round of the UCI World Cup?
Quite relaxed actually. I trained a lot and rested hard (laughs) or is it the other way round? No, serious, I won’t get carried away. It’s still possible, but it isn’t completely in my own hands anymore. I don’t want to neglect anything. I will focus from the word go. There’s no point in pushing it like a mad man. It’s all down to details and if Gilles doesn’t make any mistakes just like Knokke, I have to mirror his performances.

You suffered a bit of a backlash from your busy schedule of shows and competitions?
“Yeah, I had to undergo some medical tests. They showed my biorhythm was completely disturbed by my travelling. In less than two yours I visited 12 countries, pretty much all trips to other continents. You can’t shake the jetlag if you don’t rest properly. I was always on the move and thought that I could take it all in. But that’s maybe down to the fact that I find it hard to impose a period of rest on myself. I’m really crap at doing nothing! But you just have to accept that you will get tired. When I look back at it, it seems pretty obvious that I had to go in overdrive in Knokke. I wasn’t fit at all and poorly prepared to face a super strong Coustellier. That’s why I focused on my basic fitness these last few weeks.

You could end up without a title for the first time in years. Was 2008 a disastrous season for you?
No way, not at all. On the contrary, I get a lot of satisfaction from the side stuff such as my trial classes, promoting the sport and the fact that we got the Knokke round of the UCI World Cup on VT4 in front of a big audience. At the same time my sponsors are very pleased with al these evolutions. That makes it extra hard to push yourself after so many titles. We just haven’t enough major events to keep myself Sharp. Last but not least I have to admit that Gilles Coustellier took a major step this year. Last year in Knokke I was pretty much at the same level as this year and beat Vincent Hermance there. This year Hermance was nowhere but I got beaten by Coustellier?

So you’re not fed up with competing then?
Certainly not. But I think it’s inevitable that you get a bit used to winning so many titles. I’m not being cocky here it’s just a fact. A lot of champions before me encountered the same problem. But I am still motivated to continue. With Coustellier being so strong now I sense that I have to stretch the boundaries of my skills. He on the other will find it very tough to train this winter. He has won everything so what is there left to prove? I know the feeling because I have been there myself. But in Moutier I’ll try to give him a very hard time!

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