Baloise Trek say SRAM chain failures cost European cyclocross championship medals

Baloise Trek Lions celebrated the victory of Thibau Nys at the UEC European Cyclocross Championships this weekend but say they could have earned more medals were it not for two broken chains.

Team manager Sven Nys told Het Laatste Nieuws that the problem was with chains supplied by American component maker SRAM.

“We started the day badly with a lot of material problems,” Nys said, pointing to broken chains suffered by Arthur Van Den Boer in the junior men’s race that left him in 21st rather than fighting for the bronze medal. David Haverdings had a similar problem in the under-23 race and finished 10th.

“We are riding with a new derailleur group from SRAM this season, which we have already had problems with during training,” Nys explained. “They addressed those problems, delivered new chains and then the problem was gone, but apparently not. We need to investigate that: chains are not supposed to fail when a rider puts a lot of force on the pedals.”

Nys was able to warn his son Thibau about the issues before the elite men’s race, saying, “I shouted at Thibau during every passage in the material post that he had to be careful. ‘Don’t use too much force when pulling up. You might break your chain.'”

Instead, Thibau Nys suffered a dropped chain but avoided snapping it, he said. 

“With two laps to go, I changed gear and my chain fell between the spokes and the cassette. I thought for a moment that it was over, but it is a matter of staying calm.”

Nys was able to hold off Spain’s Felipe Orts and claim his first elite European title in Pontevedra on Sunday.

Cyclingnews reached out to SRAM about the issues but have not heard back as of publication.