Self-critical Thibau Nys doesn’t hold back: "I don’t want to be that kind of cyclo-cross rider"

On Sunday, Thibau Nys left a strong impression at Zonhoven’s famed 'pit,' finishing second behind an untouchable Mathieu van der Poel. However, perhaps his candid post-race reflections stood out even more. The Belgian rider for Baloise Trek Lions spoke openly with IDLProCycling.com about his recent inconsistent performances and his current status as a cyclo-cross rider.

It was his father, Sven Nys, who saw it coming on Saturday in Hulst in the Netherlands. There, Nys junior finished outside the top ten for the fifth time in a row: fourteenth in Hamme, twelfth in Antwerp, a DNF in Dublin after a crash, eleventh in Namur, and sixteenth in Hulst. "A bad day. It just wasn’t good, and I didn’t see any clear excuse for it. He just wasn’t strong enough. Thibau didn’t have any major crashes or anything. He looked tired, not sharp, and that’s not enough to go for a result," Sven explained.

"The strange thing with Thibau is that tomorrow (in Zonhoven, ed.), he might suddenly be very strong again. His good and bad days alternate a lot. That’s something you sometimes see with young riders, but with him, it’s very extreme in certain situations," Sven said during Play Sports’ broadcast of the Hulst race.

Nys is happy with second place in Zonhoven, but still sees lots of work to be done

Sure enough, just one day later, Thibau delivered. After pre-riding an extra lap with Van der Poel, he finished as the 'best of the rest' — by far — behind the world champion. Was he motivated by his father’s critique? Thibau can't help but smile at the suggestion. "That’s not what I focus on. We’re in a process. I’ve noticed I’m not ready when the course requires specific cyclo-cross skills," he admitted, explaining his struggles before Zonhoven.

Thibau elaborated. "I can handle the changes in rhythm, but not all those interruptions. In Hulst, we had to dismount every 50 meters. Scrambling, sliding, you name it. That’s where I keep hitting a wall. But in Zonhoven, it was a course for the big engines, and then I can convert my power into speed. You could see the difference right away. But anyway, I’m not satisfied with that realization. We have to work on that," Nys said.

The man, who has also impressed on the road last year, completed a training camp in Spain with Lidl-Trek in December. Did that work pay off in Zonhoven? "Definitely. I had a good day, but it wasn’t spectacular. I wasn’t super, super strong, but I was able to do the thing I'm good at right now. Over the past few weeks, I’ve felt super strong, but not well-tuned for races like Hulst. That’s a problem," he reiterated.

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Nys: "I lost those cyclo-cross skills"

That second place in Zonhoven means a lot to Nys in more ways than one. "It’s nice, but mainly because it feels good to play a significant role and to reach that level again. The past few weeks were disappointing, partly due to bad luck. It’s not exactly ‘food for thought,’ but we’re learning every day. I need to work more specifically on my cyclo-cross skills. In Spain, I had one of my best weeks of training. I was flying. But translating that to cyclo-cross..."

"I hope I can grow into it a bit more during the cyclo-cross races, because it is difficult to really recover from that during this busy Christmas period," Nys continued. "In races like Diegem and Baal, my power will likely show more, but I also need to be able to do Hulst. And I wasn’t ready for that. I even feel a little ashamed of myself for that. That is the essence of cyclo-cross, something that used to be my strong suit. I’ve lost those skills, but I don’t want to evolve into a road rider who only occasionally brings his power to cyclo-cross. That’s not who I want to become. I don’t want to be that kind of cyclo-cross rider."

It’s impressive how self-aware Nys is at such a young age. "It’s tempting. We haven’t done much work specifically for cyclo-cross, but then you win in Overijse, Lokeren, and at the European Championships. That gives a false impression, also because those weren’t typical cyclo-cross races. I don’t have the rhythm for those typical cyclo-cross courses anymore, and, as I’ve said, that’s something we have to work on," Nys junior concluded, setting a clear goal for 2025.

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