"If Mathieu and Wout are at the start, it will of course be a completely different story" - Thibau Nys hopes to succeed during cyclocross winter

With the cyclocross season started the specialists who also spend a lot of time on the road begin to think of how they'll approach the off-road racing and where they will be taking part. Thibau Nys is no exception, he tells in a recent interview.

"I honestly wouldn't know. I'm just going to try to participate in the competitions that suit me. Normally, not much would change for me," Thibau Nys told In de Leiderstrui regarding his first full season as a World Tour rider. "I am a rider who can basically handle many different courses well. But next year for me will also be all about discovering, growing and developing myself. Next year might be a good time to see if a Grand Tour is something for me. This year, at least, all signs were good. If I don't encounter too much bad luck in the cross, the lights will be green for the time being."

Having won the GP de Kantons Aargau, a stage at the Tour of Norway and performing strongly in a set of hard races, the Belgian has delivered on his promise. A strong puncheur, he clearly seems to be a rider hinting towards the classics, as are most cyclocross specialists - who he will face this winter. "If Mathieu and Wout are at the start, it will of course be a completely different story. But the advantage of the cross is that you can always continue to do your own thing."

"That's why I'm so looking forward to it. I am also riding an extensive program again, with more than twenty crosses. But we still have to make that concrete. I expect to only complete two races a few weekends. So it will really be a well-balanced program, so that you can, for example, be well-equipped to start altitude training," Nys continues. "Riding twenty cross races may seem like a lot, but it is of course spread over a long period of time. For example, if Wout and Mathieu ride twelve, that is in a much narrower time frame."

He tells that he will not be chasing the classification in any cup, but instead follow a path similar to what the other road riders do, which will include starting the season later and racing most likely in the build up to the World Championships - or if not, then to do some winter training and intensity which may prove valuable later in the season.

"Not necessarily. I think I will mainly participate in a lot of World Cup competitions. Chasing a cyclo-cross classification is also difficult to combine with the road season. And since the Superprestige and the X2O still have races deep into February, that is simply not possible," he believes, taking into consideration his new ambitions. "Moreover, I don't ride all the World Cup races, although there are several guys with that plan. So it could possibly be a bonus, but it is not a priority."