Belgian coach bets on "super compensation" in Thibau Nys' quest for European cyclocross title

With the defending champion Michael Vanthourenhout and the controversial Eli Iserbyt in selection for approaching European Championships in Overjise, Belgium can dream of another big title. Perhaps the biggest expectations, as well as a shadow of doubt is cast over Thibau Nys whose selection might have been even a bit surprising.

Last winter, Nys burst onto the cyclocross scene winning three of his first five competitions. But afterwards, back problems came as a consequence of overload and the young Belgian had to step aside from spotlight. He may have learnt a lesson from this as his start to 2024/25 season has been rather modest, but with clear objective in mind in two weeks' time.

Coach Paul Van Den Bosch is therefore not worried in Het Nieuwsblad about Nys' readiness for Euros. "He had calculated that it would be worse in the first few weeks, but probably better than this. Because of his deficit, he has mainly invested in training sessions instead of races in the past few weeks. To give an example: the day before Ruddervoorde he trained for four hours. In other words: he continued training for both Beringen and Ruddervoorde, without tapering off towards the races. He also saw the races themselves as a form of training. Now he is in Spain looking for freshness."

That should all ensure that Nys can suddenly be quite good at the European Championships, Van Den Bosch thinks. "I do not rule out that Thibau will be top by then. If the famous 'super compensation' does its job, then I think it is possible. A solid performance in Overijse on Sunday and then further training for the race towards the Koppenberg-European Championships. But then his body has to recover well in the coming week in combination with some specific training. Suppose he were to continue training seriously this week, then he would also be far from top in Overijse."