“They were my own stupid mistakes” - Thibau Nys gambles on uphill sprint to rescue Koppenbergcross return
Cyclocross
Thibau Nys blamed his own mistakes for turning his winning cyclocross return at the Koppenbergcross into a prolonged pursuit of Michael Vanthourenhout. Two crashes left the Belgian champion chasing, but he recovered to contest the victory on the final cobbled climb.
“I kept believing,” Nys told Sporza in his post-race flash interview. “I could feel that my legs were still really good, and I knew I still had an explosive effort left in them.”
His first crash came when he could not avoid Victor Van de Putte, who had slid out ahead of him. Nys had to straighten his handlebars before continuing, while Vanthourenhout subsequently broke clear and established a 25-second advantage over him.
Nys reduced the gap to nine seconds, only to fall again and require another handlebar adjustment. “It was stressful. I felt like I was in control, but every time I had things under control, I made a silly mistake and made life difficult for myself,” he said. “They were my own stupid mistakes, which wasn’t exactly ideal.”
After a visit to the pits and another effort to get past Gerben Kuypers, Nys finally reached Vanthourenhout ahead of the last lap.
Everything on the final climb
The pair exchanged the lead through the closing stages. Nys took an inside line to move ahead, but Vanthourenhout regained the front approaching the cobbles.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to do on the final lap, but in the end I decided to put everything into the uphill sprint,” Nys explained.
Vanthourenhout opened the sprint first. Nys came past on the climb and pulled away, leaving his exhausted opponent to finish seven seconds behind.
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It was Nys’ third Koppenbergcross victory, following his successes in 2023 and 2025, and the second successive year in which he had won here on his season debut. Vanthourenhout had arrived with four victories from his first five starts, including the previous weekend’s Superprestige opener in Overijse.
Both riders are selected for Belgium at the European Championships in Zeddam on 8 November. Nys will pursue a second European title after winning in 2024 and taking silver last year, while Vanthourenhout already has two titles from 2022 and 2023.
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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