In 2018, Andreas Lyager finished 5th in U21 World Championship, the top places rider in his year group.
But 2019 was the year the Dane stepped out of the shadows of being a junior and took his rightful place as rider on the international circuit.
In Poland that meant a move away from the Ekstraliga with Czestochowa and into Nice 2, where he raced with Polania Pila. The 22-year-old Dane aced his first season coming in third place over all with a heat average of 2.245 behind David Bellego and Brady Kurtz.
Understandably this was his highlight of his season and he has been rewarded with contract in Nice 1 in 2020 with Bydgoszcz. He scored a maximum at their track in an invitation match in October.
But this was not just his first season in Nice 2, but also his first season in Sweden’s Elitserien. There he raced at Vetlanda Speedway, the same team as World Champion, Bartosz Zmarzlik.
He picked a 0.900 Heat Average and he was positive about his first year, “it’s was a very decent year for me in Sweden. I actually had one really good meeting up there, but it was something new for me,” and he will have a further chance to develop at Vetlanda in 2020.
He actually had a much better season in his native Denmark, where he raced as a B rider for Slangerup Speedway Klub. They were favourites to win the Metal League at home in the Superfinal. But the club surprised everyone by coming last, though Lyager was their top scorer with 8 points.
Despite a great season, he’s got ambitious plans for 2020, “I’m looking for a top 10 placing in the Polish league, have a stabile season in Sweden with an average per meeting of 8 points and I want to qualify for the SEC”.
Lyager got his first taste of the SEC when he came in at Vojens as a wildcard in 2019. And he didn’t miss up on the opportunity scoring 7 points, include two heat victories against tough opposition. In Heat 11 he beat countrymen Peter Kildemand and Frederik Jakobsen, and in Heat 18 he beat Poles, Jaroslaw Hampel and Pawel Przedpelski.
The Dane has a simple motto for 2020, “Next year, I’m smarter and faster”. And looking at his year-on-year progress you’ve got every reason to believe him.
