Thibau Nys has a bright future ahead of him on road, however the Belgian talent's biggest passion is cyclocross and that's why we can look forward to seeing the Lidl-Trek talent in action already this Saturday at the Koppenbergcross. Due to the late start of the winter (compared to his rivals), the current European champion won't defend his throne next weekend in Middelkerke.
But the competitive return is clearly very exciting for the 23-year-old: "It's just a goal, and I want to win," Nys tells Sporza without beating around the bush for too long. Baloise - Trek Lions will once again rely on his contribution this winter.
"Maybe everyone expects that of me now, too. I don't let it get to me. In a way, I also like that it's expected of me. That's a sign that I've already accomplished something, so I look at it positively. Although I still believe it won't be easy. There are some very strong men present. I will have to be 100% to win," says the 2024 European champion.
A few days ago he gave a glimpse of his peak form in a flashy training video that suggests the best. Lightning-fast on and off the bike, giving it his all on the climbs, and blazing through technical sections. Was Nys secretly trying to announce his arrival to the competition?
"No, that's a weekday training day," he laughs. "I enjoyed sharing it, but it certainly wasn't to scare the competition. It was a fun video, and I heard it was getting some reactions. I hope I can confirm that this coming weekend."
Thibau Nys celebrated an early victory this year in his first race at GP Miguel Indurain
Eager to win again
Road is calling stronger with every passed year. This year, Nys got a taste of the spring classics as well as the Tour de France. And yet at the end of October he's already here, ready to give it his best in the field. "I'm very eager. That's normally a sign that I'm ready. I feel like I've done what I had to do."
Nys also had to deal with some setbacks during his road campaign and thus his team agreed to pull out the stops already at the end of August to allow Nys to prepare for the winter without any pressure.
"I just feel really good. I've applied the right intensity to my basic fitness to have a good cyclocross season," he agrees. "I hope it pays off from the first weekend and not after a few races, because every race is important. The signals are very positive, but I can't blindly assume that everything will be alright."
He estimates his fitness level is at 95% after all the troubles he's been through recently. "Well, give me good health first. I'm happy with that. And maybe that's related to more wins than last season," Nys concludes with a wink. "Bring on the cross, it’s taken long enough."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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