Thibau Nys hopes to recharge for the rest of winter with a training camp with the road team: "I always come back from altitude in good shape"

Thibau Nys had an excellent start to this cyclocross winter with a victory at the early European Championships. However since then, it seems as though luck left the 22-year-old's side with only two second places (behind the stellar Mathieu van der Poel) and several sub-par results, like in World Cup Dendermonde.

The most recent cross in extremely difficult conditions went sideways for Nys who soon knew he wasn't going to be in running for the top placings. Therefore it was only about limiting losses, he tells In de Leiderstrui. "My back was just very weak on the running parts. No worries for the Belgian championship, but I have to keep an eye on it. I have to check that it remains okay." Ultimately, 8th place was a maximum.

And so the 22-year-old rider of Baloise Glowi Lions is already talking about the period that is coming. The cross peloton will be presented with a week without cross, with the national championships scheduled for the weekend. After the Belgian championship, Thibau Nys will head to Spain to fine-tune his form with view to the World Championship. "I think a training camp after the Belgian championship will do me a lot of good. I always come back from that in good shape. Putting in a few hours again and putting the intensity back into it. That always does my body a lot of good."

What does Nys still miss in himself, when he looks critically at his condition in the field? "Making sure that my back is back in order and that I can go to that race fresh, then a lot is possible."

For that, Nys puts a lot of faith in the camp with his road team Lidl-Trek. A big advantage, that's how Nys sees his training camp. "Yes, everything is arranged. There is delicious food on the table and you get a massage. Those are percentages that are a nice bonus."

Nys follows the Lidl-Trek plan completely, where he also has to think about the cross. "I try to follow the team where possible, but I am busy with my own thing and preparation for the cross. It goes without saying that I will not do seven hours of endurance training just before those crosses, so it is a matter of keeping myself sharp and getting those cross-specific stimuli in."