Niels Albert cautions against overhyping Thibau Nys: "Not yet at the level of Van der Poel and Van Aert"

In his analysis for HLN, Albert reviewed his young compatriot's performance. "Just like in Overijse: efficient, composed, always maintaining control. Then he struck beautifully and ruthlessly at just the right moment. It’s not like he had been blindly and recklessly ‘drilling’ for laps. He moved up calmly and attacked when he could race at full power."

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Albert sees Nys’s greatest strength primarily in the versatility of the newly crowned European champion. "Thibau can perform and win on almost any course. That’s one of his strengths." And yet, we shouldn’t expect the world from Nys just yet. "Thibau won’t drive everyone to the wall every weekend. The fluctuating trend in recent televised cyclo-cross races, with a variety of winners, will continue for a while."

As followers, we should be a bit cautious with Nys. According to Albert, we shouldn’t yet rank the 21-year-old all-rounder above riders like Lars van der Haar and Eli Iserbyt. "I wouldn’t go that far. Sure, he won a championship. But it wasn’t a huge surprise. His biggest progress was made this past summer with that series of nine road wins, more than half of which were in the WorldTour."

Albert is firm in his stance. In cyclo-cross, there are simply only two men to beat. "Reaching a new level in cyclo-cross would mean going to the finish alongside Wout van Aert or Mathieu van der Poel tomorrow and beating one or both of them in a sprint. We’re not putting him at that level yet."