"I just tried and it worked!" - Thibau Nys surprises himself with a win in the queen stage of Tour de Hongrie
Cycling
As unlikely as it has seemed before today's stage it was Thibau Nys who raised hands at top of the 11 kilometers-long final climb of Tour de Hongrie's third stage, the tounge-breaking Gyöngyös-Kékestető. Additionally, the Belgian now defends the leader's jersey with two stages left to complete.
"It's incredible," the youngster from Lidl-Trek said in the flash interview. For a long time it looked as if Emanuel Buchmann would triumph, but nothing could be further from the truth. The German came to a standstill in the end and Nys with Diego Ulissi managed to pass him in the final meters.
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"I actually came here for the last two stages," Nys continued, referring to slightly less mountainous stages. "Actually I just wanted to test the legs and see how far I could go. After the first two stages I noticed that the legs felt a bit lazy. So I didn't know how my body was going to react to the efforts in this third stage. But the team has done one hell of a job. Mathias Vacek was super strong. In the end I felt the perfect legs to finish it off."
Nys agrees that it was important for him to remain patient. "That's completely right. The last 500 meters were very steep. So I knew I had to save up for one powerful acceleration at the end. Of course, I too had the feeling that we were not getting any closer to Buchmann. But I just tried and it worked! We came at great speed and I realized it was really going to happen. It is unbelievable!"
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- A great champion but a better human. jus' sayin'
Davide15-11-2026 - Congrats! It is done so now is time for CX.averagecyclist15-11-2026
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- mij, I am not so sure of that. I have been on a spine ward at a Denver hospital that had quite a few spinal injuries from mountain biking.BDBigGuy15-11-2026
- Pogi takes care of his teammates in races and training. Tadej Pogačar is widely praised within the cycling peloton for his fair and egalitarian leadership, actively supporting his UAE teammates both on the road during races and behind the scenes at training camps. Rather than acting like an untouchable superstar, he has intense team loyalty by sharing daily chores, giving up personal glory to help domestiques, and publicly praising their sacrifices. Unlike some Grand Tour contenders, like Vingegaard, who occasionally train away from their squads, Pogi consistently attends team training camps alongside his domestiques, making the exact same sacrifices to build friendship. I love how Pogačar shares his teammates-domestiques, either when they succeed or win in races or when they simply just do a good job for him. It has to be a great moral boost for them. And then they work even harder and go even deeper for Pogi. This is teamwork.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- Yeah, what he said!Lozza15-11-2026
- I’m sure Jasper Philipsen would disagree with you.Lozza15-11-2026
- Article says he was “out for a spin around the town”, implying not off-road.Lozza15-11-2026
- let’s be honest, Alpecin is all about one rider - MVDP. I’m sure he gets whatever he needs, the rest get the scraps.mij15-11-2026
- there are more vicious injuries on a road bike than a mountain bike far and away.mij15-11-2026
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#TourdeHongrie Another mountain-top win for Thibau!
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