Philip Walsleben is not having the best cyclocross season of his career. Two second places (in Baden, Switzerland and yesterday in Surhuisterveen) are the highlights for the German. "It is frustrating that the fight for victory is only limited to two or three riders," he says.

"The biggest problem is perhaps that I put too much pressure on myself," Walsleben tells Veldritskrant. "I want to do everything perfectly. In my eyes, a good preparation was always a guarantee for good races. This year, however, I have realized that it is not always so. If your races are bad, it is difficult to accept. It feels like all the effort and energy that you have spent, has yielded nothing. Mentally, it is tough. "

After losing Niels Albert as leader of the then BKCP-Powerplus team, Walsleben had to take over the leadership for the managers, the Roodhooft brothers. But soon Mathieu van der Poel made ​​the transition to the pros. "Many people explain my poor performance with the absence of our captain Mathieu at the start of this season. That this pressure hampered me. But honestly, I felt little pressure. The pressure came mainly from myself. The team management also showed patience. That's not easy as the results have been bad for several months. I am grateful for that."

Rcentltly, the German suddenly had a good day in Diegem where he made ​​the top 10  for the first time in a long time. "It was a surprise for me that I was riding so well in Diegem. One day earlir I had done a very bad race in Zolder. I even failed to reach the finish line. That evening I just let everything go. There was no water or pasta, it was french fries and beer. The intention was to get a more relaxed feeling which is actually a pretty sick approach. Note: I have not exaggerated anything. I slept well that night, but I had also been drinking well," laughed Walsleben.

"I only arrived in Diegem two hours before the race," he continued. "Much too late. I not get a normal warm-up. Half an hour before the start I did some laps on the course and then I as ready. I did not have any expectations. I never have that anymore. Before that I had been expecting too much in the past few months while nothing worked. Before the start I always have two scenarios: either a reasonable race or a very bad race."

This season it has mainly been about the same names: Wout Van Aert, Lars van der Haar, Kevin Pauwels and Sven Nys and later also Van der Poel. Walsleben is worried. "I would like to be nervous and worry about how I can get on the podium. But that's not the case. It is frustrating that the fight for victory is only limited to two or three riders. I want to do something in the races. And that is hard as a cyclo-cross rider, especially when you will finish outside the top five. Therefore I only have one goal: to be German champion. Previously, it was obvious that I would win the title, but in the current situation it is different."