Nick Nuyens will appeal the verdict of a Belgian court that rejected his claim for compensation against former rider Wout van Aert.

A judge in Mechelen ruled Tuesday that Van Aert was within his rights to terminate his contract with Nuyens' Verandas Willems-Crelan team in September 2018.

Nuyens had sought €1.15 million in damages from Van Art, which terminated its contract while Verandas Willems-Crelan was negotiating a merger with Dutch company Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij.

Van Aert had already signed a contract to join Jumbo Visma in January 2020, but eventually signed with the world tour team in March of this year while the case was being heard.

Van Aert's lawyers successfully argued that he had the right to terminate his contract with Valandas Willems, following accusations that Nuyens had persuaded Aert's former coach, Niels Albert, to sign an incriminating affidavit about him. Alberto refused and became a material witness in the case.

Nuens was ordered to pay the legal costs, but his lawyer, Rudy Desmet, told Sporza (opens in new tab) that he would appeal the decision to the Antwerp Labor Court.

"This is a surprisingly biased ruling," he said. 'Therefore, we intend to appeal,

"Nick is disappointed as well. 'I'm disappointed too, because I don't think the normal rules are being applied correctly,' he said. In cases of breach of contract, the bar is always very high. There has to be conclusive evidence that the other party made a very serious mistake."

De Smet suggested that Nuynes' appeal would focus on the evidence submitted by Albert.

"The only testimony in this case is that of Niels Albert, which is debatable. Albert states that he never had a problem with Van Aert, but he often said the opposite within the team. We have four witnesses. Only the judge ruled that they were unrelated. Hence the unbalanced ruling," De Smet said.

"In this case there was an actual conflict between the words. Albert's words and Nuyns's words. But Nuyns' words do not seem to be considered because he is a party to the case. That is not normal."

Van Aert, a three-time cyclocross world champion, had a great debut season at the World Tour level. After shining in the cobbled classics, he took stage wins at the Tour de France and Criterium du Dauphiné, as well as the Belgian time trial title.

The Belgian has not raced since his big crash in the Tour's Pau time trial. He is still recovering from injuries sustained when he was pulled off his time trial bike and caught on the hip by an obstacle on the shoulder of the road.

He was taken to a hospital near Pau where he underwent surgery to repair skin, capsular, and muscle tears in his upper thigh and hip; a week later he underwent further surgery in Belgium and was discharged at the end of July.

"He can now regain his mental peace and fully concentrate on his sport," Walter van Steenbrugge, Van Aert's lawyer, told Sporza after Tuesday's sentencing.

Van Aert has recently begun riding outdoors while continuing his rehabilitation, but it is not yet clear if he will be able to return before the end of the cyclocross season. During his recuperation, he and Remco Evenpole have expressed interest in becoming Belgium's second time trialist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.