Thibau Nys angry with Hoogerheide errors but eager for Tabor worlds: "I have a shot at silver in the World Championships"
Cyclocross
Thibau Nys was the rider who was the closest to matching Mathieu van der Poel in Hoogerheide, but lost his place on the podium following a crash on the final lap. In new statements released, the Belgian tells of how he was very disappointed with himself for missing out on the result, but that his performance motivated him towards the big goal at the World Championships.
"If I had been a bit closer, I might have been able to respond to that one attack from Van der Poel. Even then, I wouldn't have won, but at least I would have made the podium," Nys shared in statements to Het Laatste Nieuws. "This is one of the biggest disappointments of my season. I am very angry with myself for missing the podium." The Belgian was the only one at the time to react successfully to the World Champion on lap 6, and the closest rival on lap 8 of 9.
Nys entered the final lap only a few seconds behind van der Poel but then took a slight fall, losing momentum and being caught by the chasing group. Eventually he was beaten by teammate Pim Ronhaar to finish in fourth spot. Nys seems to be back at the level he had in the first races of the year, and has put himself as a very strong contender for a podium at the Worlds this weekend in the Czech Republic.
"It looked really good for a long time. Yet, I still lost it due to my own fault. The feeling in my legs doesn't lie, I was really very strong. Physically, it was the best race of my season. But the difference between a podium finish and this is huge," he tells. "I felt like I was the second-best in the race. With today's legs, I have a shot at silver in the World Championships, but not with the form I had two weeks ago. I just hope to continue this trend and finish my season on a high note."
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- 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
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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🇧🇪 Thibau Nys #DNANys 💪 What a moment of absolute brilliance from Thibau yesterday! Battling the / one of the greatest of all time, on his home course, in the battle for 2nd The only rider to put up a fight when Van der Poel launched despite being 8 yrs his junior Legend!
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