Can Thibau Nys be a match to Mathieu van der Poel this cyclocross season? "Everyone thinks or hopes that it all has to happen quickly"
Cyclocross
Last year Mathieu van der Poel rode a spotless cyclocross season, off the back of a season with no injuries or illnesses to slow him down. This season we may see it once again but former World Champion Paul Herygers believes Wout van Aert will be closer, and thinks most people argue that so will Thibau Nys.
"Devilish voices still say that he will not come to race, but will that actually be the case? He should feel the cold before he goes down to the classics," Herygers argues for Het Nieuwsblad. The legend of the discipline believes that van der Poel would not benefit from skipping the CX season - one where he could achieve a seventh World title, if he is to win in Liévin.
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Recently race organizer Christophe Impens said that actually, races are increasing in popularity and viewership in the absence of dominant victories from the likes of van der Poel or Wout van Aert. "Would it not necessarily be necessary for the tension? No, maybe not. But I sometimes light a candle for that," Herygers comments.
Whilst there is obviously a positive trend, it's undeniable that the grand majority of the audience wishes to see the two stars in action regardless. Although he has a surprising opinion regarding the timeline in which they will return to the discipline. "And the public also wants to see them in the field. Plus, Van Aert will come faster than we expect. I suspect that Mathieu will join two to three weeks later." It is rather certain that Wout van Aert will return to competition only after the 19th of December after the end of the Team Visma | Lease a Bike training camp, whilst the World Champion should have his schedule known this upcoming week.
But Herygers doesn't believe that, at least at first, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider won't dominate as he did last year: "They certainly won't ride away from the first minute. The current names will come short. If you haven't ridden a cyclocross yet, like Mathieu, and you have to start fighting against the current field of participants right away... Watch out, he will teach them a lesson, but I don't think he will ride away from them for a minute like he did in the past."
He also shares his thoughts on Thibau Nys who seems to be growing in consistency this year after a terrific spell on the road, and may be on track to finally consistently deliver in cyclocross - after already snatching the European title in Pontevedra and taking a few more wins.
"He'll be a star. Everyone thinks or hopes that it all has to happen quickly, but I won't let that fool me. If he could double his successes from last year in the field this season... On the road, certainly. I dare say now that he could win the Flèche Wallonne next season. If they take him to the Mur de Huy," he concludes.
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- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024
- well, del grosso is 21 right now. when mathieu was a year younger than that, he was already winning elite level world championships, not U23. i think del grosso will be a very good pro for years, but if he was really going to be the next van der poel someday, he’d already have to be at that level right NOW. van der poel was showing signs of true greatness when he was 15-16. THAT’S what generational talent looks like.OCexile25-12-2024
- Yeah.... gear 😅.mikolajjj24-12-2024
- It shouldn’t be about expectations in the first place should it? Besides, if you look at everyone’s calculations as a whole they don’t add up in the first place. There’ll be 2-3 riders with a 50% chance, a dozen with 10 or 20% and dozens more with a 5% so we’re expecting at least 2 if not 3 winners. Remind me again who won before her? Says it all about using data to decide on participation.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- Ok, happy I’m not too interested in this team coz’ the account of what happened is really hard to follow.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- The UCI is worse than USA CyclingVeganpotter24-12-2024
- It's not like they wanted her to not win😅 She had an outstanding Olympics. But there's a reason why she wasn't expected to win the road race and that's ok. Things like this happen and it's great...better than seeing expected winners win.Veganpotter24-12-2024
- Bruyneel ? The man with a lifetime ban from cycling...why do you keep giving him and his doper mate, Armstrong, a platform?DJ24-12-2024
- yeah, agree. on the subject of being a “complete rider,” i do think that’s getting more interesting. mathieu seems to have decided he wants to get much better at climbing the the high mountain passes. he appears to be looking for new challenges, which should be interesting to watch. in most cases you’d dismiss a goal like that at age 30, but it’s mvdp. he’s never going to climb with the real climbers, but if he can improve enough it could open up stage wins when the parcours isnt just purely toothy and punchy.OCexile24-12-2024