“It has positive and negative sides" - Thibau Nys on dealing with pressures of being Sven Nys' son

The son of a legend, Thibau Nys has had the spotlight on him for much of his life. To his credit though, the Belgian prodigy is quickly making a name for himself in the sport of cycling, both on the road and in cyclocross.

“I’m making really big steps for the moment,” Nys assesses of his development in conversation with Velo. “I feel like I still need to make those steps in cyclocross as well. But I am 100 percent confident that it will come in the future. Now it’s just trying to get the wins as well on the bigger races next road season. To step up that game.”

On the road, Nys has indeed made big strides in 2024, adding no fewer than nine victories to his palmares the course of the season. Starting with a stage win at the Tour de Romandie in April, Nys was then the strongest of the field at the Tour de Hongrie, winning stage 3 and stage 4 before securing the overall victory to boot. After stages of the Tour of Norway and the Tour de Suisse, Nys then took not one but three victories at the Tour de Pologne. As mentioned, the 22-year-old has already starred on his return to cyclocross this winter taking the European title and victories at Superprestige Overijse and the Rapencross.

“It was perfect. I didn’t dare to dream that it was going to be this good," he reflects of season on the road. “There were a lot of highlights, but my stage win in the Tour de Suisse was really important to me. And also I won three stages in Tour of Poland, which was a week I will never forget. Winning one, then two, then three made it a crazy feeling. In the end after riding a season like this, I also realized that it cannot be every year the same. That all the wins come that easy and so soon after each one. So I enjoy every moment and try to copy that next year as well.”

As mentioned, being the son of the legendary Sven Nys, the Lidl-Trek and Baloise - Trek Lions star has also had the perfect mentor to learn from. “I went with him to do all the races, week after week, year after year,” he recalls. “So I really grew up in the whole cyclocross scene. It was something I learned a lot from. I enjoyed seeing him race and doing all those things.”

“It has positive and negative sides. Everything I do race related, it is really into the picture. I cannot go somewhere racing without any expectations. But I learned to go with that. And I don’t really see it as a problem," he concludes. “I try to pick up as much positive things from things he can teach me, and things like that. So I don’t see it as a battle.”