European Champion Thibau Nys reflects on unbelievable stair sprint: 'The next race is always the most important one'

Nys didn’t get off to the best start and, after one lap, had to close a small gap to a strong leading group. Once he did that, he quickly worked his way to the front. An initial surge halfway through the race separated the wheat from the chaff: he found himself at the front with Wyseure and the Swiss rider Kevin Kühn. But breaking away wasn’t easy for the eventual winner.

"It was a tough one," Nys said in the post-race flash interview. When Kühn was dropped, the Belgian knew he’d have to battle it out with his tenacious compatriot. “It was a tough but great battle with Joran. He was super strong, and we had a hard time getting away from each other’s wheel. So I already felt halfway through that it would take a big burst of speed in the final lap.”

And that’s exactly what happened. In the final lap, Sven Nys’s son took the lead and put Wyseure under pressure. Wyseure didn’t crack easily, but it was on the endless climb of Zeddam that Nys really kicked it into high gear. With long strides, he sped away from his exhausted compatriot. He managed to defend his slim lead all the way to the finish line.

The climb made the circuit in the municipality of Montferland very tough. “It was pretty tough, but also a challenging course for making a difference,” Nys adds, qualifying his statement. “Especially on the stretch leading to the finish line, I often lost a lot of energy. It was a bit of a gamble.”

Nys will, of course, celebrate, but his cyclocross season has only just begun. With two wins in two races, it’s off to a perfect start. “There’s much more to come,” he says matter-of-factly. “For me, the next race is always the most important one; next week is just as important as this European Championship. I’ll try to make the jersey shine,” Nys concludes.