Thibau Nys joins both Lidl-Trek training groups ahead of Tour: "He gets the best of both worlds"

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."