Thibau Nys' calls out 'criminal' behaviour from sprinters: "You can throw five or six men in jail"

Thibau Nys only began his season less than a month ago at the Tour de Romandie, but has already racked up four wins. All of them on climbs - and the overall classification of the Tour de Hongrie... Although the Belgian packs a very strong sprint he does not want to be part of it, he sees the sprinters' behaviour as something extremely dangerous.

“In Hungary I broke all my records for three days, which means I am still discovering myself. I'm also riding the Tour de Suisse this year, but there you have real climbs," Nys said in words to Wielerflits. "That will always be too heavy. But I might try Tirreno-Adriatico one day. To participate in those smaller races I have to work on my time trial. I will never become a specialist, but at the moment I cannot estimate what level I can reach.”

Sure enough, it can be confirmed that Nys' level is on the rise. After a breakaway win atop a 7-kilometer climb, it was asserted that the Belgian actually had talent for the long climbs. Although Hongrie did not offer anything extreme, it was fascinating to see the Lidl-Trek take a massive leap in terms of consistency and climbing ability - winning two stages and the overall classification. This leaves him dreaming of a future where he can contest tougher races and even the GC at World Tour-level stage-races.

Behind will be left the possible sprinting ambitions he would have. But this is not because of lack of talent - he is an extremely strong puncheur - but instead he sees the problem as other sprinters' mentality: “Sprinters are assholes. I don't want to be associated with it. What happens in a sprint is sometimes criminal. Literally criminal..."

His experience at the Tour de Hongrie was even worst, he admits: “I experienced more serious situations in Hungary. In the first stage, zoom in on the helicopter view of the last one and a half kilometers and you can throw five or six men in jail. Really and truly. At sixty-five, seventy an hour you see riders pushing others away with their hands," he says. 

There was a very notable event on the second stage where Dylan Groenewegen and Sam Welsford were shoulder to shoulder for several seconds until Welsford hit the barrier support and broke a wheel. It was an incredibly tense moment, but according to Nys only one of many.

"It is certainly not just Dylan Groenewegen, but I also saw him perform a stunt in stage two. Sam Welsford broke his wheel against the barrier. Then you will know. Every time I participate in a bunch sprint it is an interesting learning experience, but really, I am glad that I don't have to earn my living from it," he concludes.