"He took me to the front of the peloton to close things down" - Thibau Nys gets help from Mark Cavendish en route to Tour de Hongrie success

Taking overall victory at the 2024 Tour de Hongrie, Thibau Nys had a breakthrough performance. Alongside the victory, Nys also got to ride alongside two of his heroes in Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish.

During his impressive performances in Hungary, Nys actually found the time to share a word or two with his pair of idols. “With Peter Sagan, it was before my first win, it was more about the course," the 21-year-old Belgian says in conversation with GCN. "Cavendish was super friendly. He congratulated me three times. It was a very nice meeting.”

“I had already raced with Mark, but had never spoken before. I grew up in the middle of his glory years. For me, he is still the greatest sprinter of all time," Nys continues, full of praise for the Brit, who in his last season, proved he's still in race-winning shape on stage 2 of the Tour de Hongrie. "That's great when he comes to congratulate you. He also took me to the front of the peloton to close things down and start the race. Very nice."

With Nys drawing comparisons to Sagan with his riding style, the Lidl-Trek man isn't getting too far ahead of himself. “I have no idea where it will take me this year. I am still busy discovering myself. This week I surprised myself, in every way,” Nys concludes. “Before this season I hadn't really set a goal for a specific period or race. I try to win races. And indeed, I am very aware that this cannot continue like this. It may also be that I have now won my last race of the season. That's how fast things can go in racing.”