Nick Nuyens

Nick Nuyens (born 5 May 1980 in Lier) is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Garmin-Sharp. His biggest wins to date include the semi-classics Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, Omloop Het Volk, Paris–Brussels and the classic Tour of Flanders. He is generally viewed as a classics rider. He is married to the Belgian multiple national champion, Evy Van Damme. During the 2009 season he used a wood block under his saddle to prevent it from sagging in wet conditions, as seen in a photo taken before the start of the 2009 Gent–Wevelgem race.

The year 2011 was a good one for him, since he took the victory on two classics in Flanders. At the end of March, he prevailed in a sprint at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, after desperately trying to steer clear of the group in the last 20 kilometres (12 mi) of the race. Geraint Thomas of Team Sky finished second, while the lead group was a few seconds away. Two weeks later, Nuyens took one of the Monument of cycling, the Tour of Flanders (Tour of Flanders). After the Muur van Geraardsbergen, one of the big favorite Fabian Cancellara was caught by the bunch. Nuyens was part of the chasers that bridged to the leading group in the final kilometers, and a trio of riders were left to battle it out for the finish while another group was very close to them in the final meters. Nuyens got the best of Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) and Cancellara in the three men sprint. Nuyens said of his biggest win of his career:“It was only in the final 50 meters that I started to fully realize what was happening, that I was about to win this beautiful race.”

Nuyens left Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank at the end of the 2012 season, and joined Garmin-Sharp on a three-year contract from the 2013 season onwards.