Nys hopes to redeem himself in the Renewi Tour after his disappointment in the Tour: "Not what I worked so hard for"

Nys' Tour debut almost literally collapsed in the first stage, where he immediately crashed. The following days were hell, but not directly because of the crash. “I don't know what went wrong. It's unfortunate. I was dropped today. I can't get over it,” he lamented after the seventh stage towards the Mur-de-Bretagne. The rest of La Grande Boucle didn't go much better.

He did finish the Tour, which is an achievement in itself. Now he is focusing on the fall. “I took the necessary rest after the Tour and then built up my strength,” Nys explained to Sporza. “I clashed with myself a few times during the first training sessions. It was much warmer than I had expected in Mallorca. I wasn't really prepared for 37 degrees, but I feel pretty good and I'm really looking forward to racing again.”

The son of Sven Nys recorded strong results on Dutch and Belgian roads in the spring: he finished 12th in the Amstel Gold Race and 5th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He is trying to regain that form in the Renewi Tour, where he will be one of the protected riders for Lidl-Trek. "I've found my legs and hopefully I can show that. We have a very strong team here. I want to support the guys, and maybe I can take my chance myself."

The Tour is now behind him, but it took a lot out of the youngster. ‘It was a great learning experience. A disappointment, though,’ he says honestly. “It's not what I worked so hard for and what I came to France for.” Normally, the first three-week race gives you a lot of extra power. “I don't have that impression, but maybe it will come and I'll see on Wednesday,” says Nys.

The all-rounder's fall will be relatively short: after the Renewi Tour, he will travel to Canada for the GP Québec and GP Montréal, where he wants to perform well. “I really want to try to win a nice prize in Canada,” he tells Het Nieuwsblad. After that, the road season will most likely be over: no World Championships or European Championships, even though those races have nice courses.

“But this year, those championships are still a no-go. It's been so much already this season,” he explains. After Canada, he will set his sights on the winter, where he wants to try to defend his European title. “The cyclo-cross is too important, and it would be too much otherwise. I haven't had a long rest period in a long time, and riding championships would only make it worse.”

So no Rwanda. But in 2026, the World Championships will be held in Montréal. That is precisely where Nys hopes to perform this fall. If he succeeds, it could be a nice warm-up for something very special next season. “Next year, the World Championships could indeed be a very nice goal,” concludes the Lidl-Trek rider.