The men also had a fierce battle at the 2015 Soudal Classics in Leuven, Belgium, with youngster Mathieu Van Der Poel of the Netherlands capturing the win on this muddy course.

The young sniper Mathieu Van Der Poel caught in mid flight by our man Tom Prenen.

Mark McConnell gets final touches on one of his race bikes before the start.

Mathieu Van Der Poel's camouflaged Stevens race bike also gets some love.

Diether Sweeck started the 2015 Soudal Classics cross race with a fine show of force.

It was not going as well for Sven Nys as he likely wanted to.

David Van Der Poel raced a bit further back and ended up in 16th place, more than 5 minutes behind his brother.

The further back you are, the lonelier it is on course.

The front group comes past the spectators here and it was tough to guess who would have the legs.

It does not matter where in the field Sven Nys is, his fans will love him anyhow.

Laurens Sweeck leads this group in pursuit of the leaders.

His brother Diether, now no longer up front, rides just ahead of Sven Nys.

Mathieu Van Der Poel and Joerie Adams riding well in the front.

German Philipp Walsleben with Corné Van Kessel was also close to the front.

Late in the race Mathieu Van Der Poel blitzed the front group and pulled away.

Walsleben now riding in 5th place ended up in that place.

Mathieu Van Der Poel flew to this very big win in Leuven.

And everyone wanted to come close to the 2015 Soudal Classics champion.

No excuses from Sven Nys, but a young father should not have to explain himself anyway.

All images © Tom Prenen