"I will remember this for the rest of my life" - Thibau Nys stuns with Tour de Romandie victory

Thibau Nys is a cyclocross expert and, on the road, a classics rider. Hence, it comes as a big surprise that his first victory of 2024 comes in the mountains of Switzerland... The Tour de Romandie will hold a special place in his heart after he won today's stage in Les Marecottes.

"I will remember this for the rest of my life. I can't really describe this. To many people this may seem like a normal victory, but I worked hard for it. It was an important goal for me, and when you win... That means something," Nys said in a post-race interview. The Lidl-Trek rider succeeded from a breakaway that didn't at first look too threatening to the peloton. However, with good collaboration and good legs within the group, a miracle was made.

"Yesterday I was disappointed that I couldn't show my good legs. Then I felt very strong. We had a good plan for today to get in the early breakaway," he says. Together with Andrea Vendrame he moved away from his breakaway companions on the final climb, and both locked on the wheel of Luke Plapp when the Australian came through in the final kilometers. It was a perfect move, and then in a sprint he had the superior legs against the Italian at the summit finish.

"I came along at a good time. I tried to save as much as I could, but I didn't know what to expect. It was my first time in the early breakaway. I also didn't know exactly how the finale went, with all those turns," he admits. However, Lidl-Trek had him perfectly informed on the radio on what was to come, and ultimately success came in the form of a surprising victory. "So I have to say a big thank you to the team because they got me through the final and the final corners.”