Father Sven optimistic but also realistic about chances Thibau Nys: "Bringing him to the base of the climb means trouble"

That other Belgian talent is also at the start line and has a strong finishing kick, especially on a tough finish like in Huy. “We won't take Thibau Nys to Huy on a free ride, we will race hard,” Evenepoel told this website after the Amstel Gold Race.

Nys’s own camp is well aware of the 22-year-old Thibau’s strengths. “I know he can ride up the Mur de Huy very fast,” his father Sven Nys told Sporza with a laugh. “Of course, the competition knows they need to raise the pace early to tire him out in advance. Because bringing him to the base of the climb means trouble.”

Still, Sven Nys remains realistic. “It's really hard to assess his chances. It’s all new to him. In the Amstel, I saw that he’s in good shape and has made progress. But whether he’s ready to take on the very best in the world — I can’t say. It seems a bit too ambitious to think he can already control the race.”

Yet he doesn’t entirely rule out his talented son’s chances. “The numbers don’t lie. He has the qualities and the punch to pull off something special there, but there’s a whole race leading up to that as well. So the question is whether he’ll still have that little extra when it matters,” said Sven Nys.

Thibau’s teammate, Matthias Skjelmose, also rated his chances highly after the Amstel Gold Race. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If there’s anyone who can beat Tadej Pogacar on the Mur de Huy, it’s Thibau.”