PRESS CONFERENCE Thibau Nys | Battling van der Poel and van Aert "would mean I'm in really good shape and that I will be close to winning stages"

The Tour de France is starting this Saturday and on the list of debutants will be Thibau Nys. The Belgian supertalent, a cyclocross specialist by nature but brilliant puncheur on the road, is gearing up for his first Grand Tour and talks about his expectations and goals in a press conference attented by CyclingUpToDate.

The Belgian has spoken about the stages that suit him, his role within a team where Mattias Skjelmose and Jonathan Milan will also be taking on leadership roles, his expectations for a thirst three-week race, how he feels about a potential challenge against Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, and more...

Answer: Not as confident as I hoped to be at this moment two days before the Tour but we try to make it work. We just hope for the best now. It's been quite a difficult period with a crash at altitude camp, then I started to feel better again. I think I did a really nice race in Gippingen getting second in a hard final, then second at the Tour of Belgium - which was mentally not ideal because I wanted to find the confidence over there and think 'ok we're in the right way'. But I think we did everything in our power to be ready".

A: I think it will be crazy, hectic and nervous first week for a lot of guys. Sprinters, puncheurs, classics riders, breakaway... There won't be a lot of time to sit back and relax, it's going to be a kind of stress in the bunch that I never experienced before and I try to be ready for that mentally. Just being really sharp mentally will be really important and then the legs will speak.

A: It's difficult to say, day 6 or 7 should be ideal if the shape is there. But for the moment there are a lot of question marks... I mean I'm ok, I'm going with good form, I'm feeling great, I trained hard last week. But it's the Tour, and I never experienced this, I don't know where to compare the level to everything I did in the past. I know where I'm standing at this moment but I don't know how it compares to the level of the Tour which makes it difficult to make a prediction of the result or what I can do.

A: Of course you always go to the Tour for a stage win, but as I said it's difficult to say now if it's possible or not. We just try to make the best out of it, I want to help the team as well as much as possible and make some nice results myself and get to Paris eventually.

A: Of course, a big improvement for my physical development as a rider.

Q: This is your first Tour de France, also your first Grand Tour, what do you expect of racing for over three weeks and what advice have you gotten from more experienced riders in the team.

A: Expect the worst (laughs, ed.). It will not be a walk in the park and I know that, I try to enjoy that and I try to learn from this. I'm just curious to know how my body will feel after three weeks of non-stop racing. There are a lot of question marks and blind spots at the moment so I will just let it happen and go with the flow.

A: I don't think so, I don't think it has anything to do with technical abilities but just more about how to fight for your spot and be sharp and dominant in this.

A: Not really, it's a good question... I think it's something within me, the more I'm focused on something and the more I'm feeling on something, or the more important the race is or the bigger the race is the more I can really shut myself off and be in a tunnel vision. And I need to be in this, I need to be sharp to be ready for the first week. It's going to be crazy hectic and it'll be fighting from 100k to go to be in the right spot. There's no time to sit back in the last spot in the bunch like I'm used to doing in Belgium Tour. This is the biggest stage this is the Tour and I just hope I find the right mental and physical balance and focus which I will need.

A: For sure, but at this point it's more about getting myself ready then really enjoying everything. Maybe once it's going it's going to be a bit different - specially because the first week is so important, it has to happen there. So maybe in the second or third week and the stages aren't really for us or for me, maybe it gets a bit more relaxing... Maybe the wrong word... Maybe you can enjoy it more looking from distance.

A: Yeah I think 2016, I think the year when Froome ran up Ventoux I was there... Close to Ventoux, we were sleeping over there and riding bike it was like a bike holiday... I also remember, I was way younger at that time riding my bike in a green jersey because Tom Boonen was wearing a green jersey. I never really thought about it myself because I wanted to be a cyclocross rider, it was super big and it was super nice... I learned from a young age that this was the biggest scene, but I never saw myself doing this, it was not really a goal or anything. Everything went fast at that point and now we're here.

A: I think I'm not enough of a sprinter to make a goal out of the green jersey. Let's see how I develop as a rider but for the moment I don't see it as a goal.

A: I want to develop as much as possible but maybe just for the run-in to the final work because I'm not going to put myself in the leadout train. We've got really experienced and strong riders out there to make that happen. Once the train is on rails... But before that for sure I will be there.

A: It's all new so I have nothing to compare with. Of course we see the level of the guys these days and it's getting a bit scary. It's also a bit what I said earlier, I don't have anything to compare with. I know my level and I don't know how it will compare to the level of the guys in the Tour. Everybody I speak with says 'ah ok but in the Tour it's different'. I know that I will need to be at 110% and even higher than that to try to fight for a stage win.

A: Not really. I'm always hungry for nice results and to make the best out of it, and to get the best level possible out of my body. So it's not really difficult, but of course it's going easier when you don't get sick and you don't crash and have those setbacks. And you have the confidence from nice races or nice results or nice training then it's a bit easier but I always keep my faith sure.

A: I think both. I mean a lot will be clearer already in the race, I don't see it as a negative thing that I want to go for the harder stages and he'll go as well. We can both be there. I think it's clear that if we are both there then he will be the fastest of us two. So I don't think it's a hard point... If he's in good shape, we know that he can climb as well and he'll be there.

A: I would love to, it would mean I'm in really good shape and that I will be close to winning stages, or at least third!

A: Timing wise it's the best one. I think also because there's a lot of stages that suit me in the first week. I think all the small things combined made it the best way to start right now. No TTT in the first week... Giro would come a little bit to soon after the cyclocross season last year and maybe Vuelta will be too close to the next cyclocross season so everything combined this was the best option.