"He should choose the road with all his talent" - Sven Nys believes Thibau should combine both disciplines but can never sacrifice road ambitions

Thibau Nys is an extremely talented rider but that also means that he will have to make decisions. The Belgian can't risk being a 'jack of all trades, master of none', so he will have to make choices as to where he will put the most focus on, as do Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert for example who've had very similar development.

Sven Nys argues that Thibau should remain in cyclocross every year, both to benefit his palmarès but also his road season, doing what Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert also do so successfully. “That is because Thibau has the ambition to first tick off a number of things in cyclocross, in order to really make a career there. I am also convinced that the way he races also helps him to be stronger and ultimately achieve success in the summer," Nys told Wielerflits.

Nys had shown talent but this season he absolutely blew up, winning stages at the Tour de Romandie, Tour de Hongrie, Tour of Norway, Tour de Suisse and three stages at the Tour of Pologne... His pure puncheur abilities were extremely impressive and even send out a clear signal that he is a perfect fit for the opening week of the Tour de France next year.

“Thibau’s punch on a relatively steep, not too long climb, he owes that to the skills he has built up in cyclocross," Sven tells. "That very explosive, on and off the bike, doing starts, pulling up to every bend, cyclocross has a lot to do with that. And I also think that Thibau will have to stay present for his road career in the coming years, in order to really be able to use those capacities on the road.”

This spring for example, he will focus on the Ardennes classics after resting from a full cyclocross season - where so far he's done quite well, the European title being the highlight, but with consistency being a prime goal as it's something he's struggled with a lot in the past.

“You can wonder whether Thibau is still a typical cyclocross rider. I don't think so myself. Look at what he achieved last season [on the road]. It sounds impressive, but he should choose the road with all his talent," Sven, a legend of cyclocross, argues. Thibau Nys is only a fresh 22 years of age and has a secure contract with Lidl-Trek where he's got lots of opportunities to develop further, and is currently in a pretty much ideal position to develop into a rider who wins bigger and bigger.

“Suppose Thibau has the ambition to ride Strade Bianche or Milano-Sanremo. That is very early and then you can't start racing in October. Then he won't start his season until December. But everything depends on what happens in the summer. For example, which Grand Tour will he ride in 2025? If that is the Vuelta a España, you have to recover afterwards. Then you can't start racing in October either. We will look at that in the coming period," Nys concluded.