Living in the shadow of the great Sven Nys cannot be an easy task but Thibau Nys is really starting to come into his own. At the 2024 European Championship, the Belgian has now taken a first senior title, securing the biggest victory of his blossoming career after a thrilling race in Pontevedra.
“I didn't expect to have so much control from the start,” reflects Nys of his European Championship victory in his immediate post-race interview afterwards. "It was a super fast race. It was so difficult to force a gap here. I came into the starting line with the intention of just letting everything happen, adapting to any scenario. It was all so clear in my head. I knew exactly what I had to do."
Somewhat surprisingly, home crowd hero Felipe Orts emerged as Nys' biggest challenger, pushing the young Belgian all the way and eventually taking 2nd place ahead of Eli Iserbyt. “I had complete control when I took the lead and I had the best companion in Felipe (Orts),” says Nys, full of praise for the Spaniard. "I knew he would be ready for this championship and I knew he would go all out. This was really a goal for him. We understood each other perfectly and we went all out together. It was really 100 percent perfect."
With plenty of the cyclocross season still to go, Nys now has the added impetus of donning the European jersey. "I can now just race in this jersey. I am speechless for a moment," he concludes with a smile.
| 01 | Nys Thibau | 57:46 |
| 02 | Orts Lloret Felipe | + 03 |
| 03 | Iserbyt Eli | + 09 |
| 04 | Vandeputte Niels | + 15 |
| 05 | van der Haar Lars | + 24 |
| 06 | Menut David | + 32 |
| 07 | Kuypers Gerben | + 34 |
| 08 | Boros Michael | + 34 |
| 09 | Sweeck Laurens | + 50 |
| 10 | Vanthourenhout Michael | + 01:01 |
| 11 | Lillo Dario | + 01:07 |
| 12 | Hendrikx Mees | + 01:28 |
| 13 | Suarez Fernandez Kevin | + 01:38 |
| 14 | Aerts Toon | + 01:53 |
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- 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
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