"I sometimes slept in four different places in one week" - Thibau Nys talks his parents' divorce when he was a teenager

In an interview with the Belgian magazine Humo, Thibau Nys was candid about his teenage years and the divorce of his parents. Sven and Isabelle Nys signed the divorce papers when Thibau was twelve years old, but he himself experienced little inconvenience from this.

"Everything was focused on dad's career and then you lose each other. My parents' divorce was one that was textbook. My parents realized very well: we have fucked up, we are now going to do everything we can to ensure that Thibau does not become a victim of this," says Thibau. "I still remember how, the morning it was in all the newspapers, I went to school with a small heart. But my friends also knew not to burden me with it."

The 21-year-old Baloise Trek Lions rider still remembers well when he learned about the divorce. "We were at a restaurant in Mallorca. It was very unexpected. I didn't notice that things were going badly. Mom went to live somewhere else. But I was still confident that everything would turn out fine with the divorce. That also has to do with how they handled it: they always kept talking to each other. You also have parents who never communicate directly with each other anymore."

Initially, young Nys lacked some structure after the divorce. "When I had my first girlfriend a little later – her parents were also divorced – I sometimes slept in four different places in one week. That's the one thing I've struggled with: my stuff was always everywhere. With dad another book, with mom my gym bag... But if that's the worst thing you get from a divorce, then you can kiss both your pollekes."

That's better now, now that Thibau lives with Sven permanently. "That has everything to do with my sport. Take the doping control for example: they always have to know where to find me. That increases the threshold for staying the night with mom again, but I don't want her to feel deprived. Just because we don't see each other for a few weeks doesn't mean I don't like being with her."