Thibau Nys joins both Lidl-Trek training groups ahead of Tour: "He gets the best of both worlds"
Cycling
Soon we should find out an answer to the mystery of whether Thibau Nys shall make a Grand Tour debut this summer or not. Currently at Lidl-Trek's altitude camp in Sierra Nevada, the final selection will be made very soon, his father Sven Nys unveils in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws.
Some riders are hesitant to try altitude camps, but that's not the case for the 22-year-old. "Thibau is open to using such things in the right way and to getting the most out of his capacities anyway. It took neither time nor energy to convince him of the scientifically proven advantage of altitude. He did not hesitate for a second to invest in it."
Now it's already Thibau's fourth time in altitude and it's almost becoming natural for him. "You can say: 'logical, it's his job'. But you are there, on top of that mountain where there is absolutely nothing to do. Eat, sleep, train, repeat, days on end. A lonely existence, sometimes."
"The large Tour core of Lidl-Trek is currently training in two groups," Sven Nys continues. "On the one hand, you have the riders focused on sprints. On the other hand, the climbers, who need longer, more intensive blocks. As a fast man who can also climb a mountain, Thibau falls somewhere in between and he gets the best of both worlds."
Although all of this is done with the aim of having the young rider debut at the Tour in July, the certainty will only came later in the preparation with multiple riders in contention for the eight tickets to Lille.
"To be clear: it is not 100% certain that Thibau will ride the Tour de France. It is certainly the intention. But you have to start the most important race of the year with the very best riders. We assume that Thibau will succeed in being among them at the time of the final selection and achieving his top performance. In any case, it looks very good."
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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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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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