“We are not going to place him at that level... not yet" - Thibau Nys not ready to contest Van der Poel & Van Aert believes Niels Albert

Thibau Nys had a real breakthrough campaign on the road in 2024, taking notable victories at the likes of the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de Romandie. That form has carried on into the cyclocross season too, with a first ever Superprestige victory and a senior title win at the European Championship added to the Belgian's palmares in recent weeks.

"Once again, the way he controlled the race in Spain appealed to me. Just like in Overijse, economical. Controlled. Constantly keeping an overview. And then striking beautifully and mercilessly at the right moment," writes two time cyclocross world champion Niels Albert in his post-European Championship column for HLN.

Despite the brilliance of his European Championship victory and his clear improvement, Albert isn't ready to put Nys on a level with the likes of cyclocross superstars Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert just yet. "Does this herald a new phase in his development as a cyclo-cross rider? I wouldn't dare push it that far. Okay, he wins a championship. But it wasn't a huge surprise. His biggest progress came last summer with that series of nine victories on the road, more than half of which in the World Tour," Albert explains.

“Crossing a new threshold in cyclocross would mean: riding to the finish tomorrow with Wout van Aert and/or Mathieu van der Poel and beating him/them in the sprint” continues the Belgian. “We are not going to place him at that level. Again: not yet. Because turn it or twist it however you want: at a certain point it will go in that direction. I am not talking about equalling, let alone surpassing. But certainly 'leaning close to'.”

"If Mathieu and Wout appear somewhere at the start now and one of them wins, we say: 'Well, who else?' With his big engine and technical and tactical capabilities, I can see us doing the same with Thibau sooner or later," Albert concludes. "It's simple: the power and the power that he develops on the road also make him grow further in the field. None of the assembled competition could dream of that for even a second."