Follow IDL Pro Cycling on Google
Stay up to date with the best cycling news by making us a preferred source on Google.
Follow us on GoogleThibau Nys is in great shape and ready for a new cyclo-cross season, he told Sporza. The 22-year-old Belgian has already delighted his fans with an explosive video and will really get started on November 1 in the Koppenbergcross. A week later, he also has ambitions at the European Championships, where he wants to defend his champion's jersey.
ADVERTISEMENT
After a difficult road season, Nys is ready for cyclo-cross. He looked fit and said he feels that way too. “I'm really excited, which is normally a sign that I'm ready,” he said ambitiously. The young Belgian, who saw his teammate Lars van der Haar announce his retirement on Wednesday, is not shying away from the pressure to perform.
Nervous? “Yes, that's starting to kick in,” said Nys, who doesn't want to call a little pressure and butterflies in his stomach “negative stress.” He wants to be there right away on the Koppenberg, not ease into it. “It's just a goal, and I want to win there. Everyone expects that from me now, too.”
Continue reading below the photo
Thibau Nys enjoys high expectations
For someone who completed his last road race on August 31, Nys had plenty of time to prepare for the cyclo-cross winter. The images from a social media video were certainly not intended to make a statement about his good form, but “I hope I can confirm that this coming weekend.”
As if the external pressure weren't enough, Nys is now more than happy to put pressure on himself. "In a way, I like that it's expected of me. It's a sign that I've already achieved something, so I see it as a positive. Still, I maintain that it won't be easy. There are several very strong men competing. I'll have to be at 100% to win."
Continue reading below the photo
Thibau Nys in the Tour de France on behalf of Lidl-Trek
Nys has a good foundation for the cyclo-cross winter
“I feel like I've done what I had to do,” he continued. "I just feel really good. I've put in the right amount of effort in my basic fitness to have a good cyclo-cross season. I hope it pays off from the first weekend and not after a few races, because every race is important. The signs are very positive, but I can't blindly assume that everything will be okay. “
"Let the cyclo-cross season begin, it's been long enough,” concluded Nys, who has also impressed his trainer Paul Van Den Bosch recently. "He is very eager. Thibau actually wanted to start in Overijse, but he had just returned home from the team days with Lidl-Trek in Germany. It would have taken too much training effort. It's also a conscious choice to start on the Koppenberg."
Continue reading below the photo
"Everything indicates that he is very good," says Nys' coach
Van Den Bosch also finds it difficult to deny that Nys is in good shape. 'Everything indicates that he is very good, but it still has to happen in the race. The proof of the eating is in the pudding. Mind you, I have no doubts. But a cross is different from training. We'll only see where he really stands on the Koppenberg.
So, let's keep our options open, but you can bet we'll see Nys on fire. His team hopes and expects that he can now really dominate behind Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. “But the step from what he was last season to being dominant is a big one.” Nys himself said about this on HLN: “I think it has to happen and that I have to be there, but we mustn’t forget that the level is very high. It won’t be the case that I win everywhere with ease.”
Read also
Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
IDL-productions
Glasgow set to shine as World Cup demand outstrips expectations and Mason eyes first home cyclocross race
Pogačar, Vingegaard and Van Aert went faster again in 2026... except when they didn't
Team GB dominate, China on the rise, Lavreysen the best ever? Five takeaways from the 2026 Track World Championships
Track World Championships day 2: A golden day for Team GB, Levreysen goes 2 for 2, and Kopecky eliminates the competition
Rumours, speculation and guesswork: 2027 Tour de France route will be revealed live on October 22 in Paris
Latest Cycling News
Former cyclocross star and Indurain's lead-out man, now 62: 'Struggling with an opponent he can’t shake'
Vote for the best mens rider of the 2026 cycling season: Pogačar, Pidcock, Vingegaard, McNulty, and more
Alberto Contador thinks 2027 Tour de France will be different: 'Pogačar is only this good because of Vingegaard'
Bas Tietema chats with Wout Poels about why he's staying with Unibet Rose Rockets for one more year
Vanthourenhout guiltily admits wrongdoing after confrontation with Scot Cameron Mason: 'That's a closed chapter'
Popular Cycling News
99 steps await the European Cyclocross Championship competitors: 'There’s no hill quite like it'
Cameron Mason brushes off Vanthourenhout's angry abuse : 'A taste of his own medicine'
Video shows Vanthourenhout lashing out at Brit Cameron Mason after mistake costs him the win at Middelkerke
Wout van Aert's 2027 Calendar | There is one big title missing from his list of wins...
'I'm in pain- I'm dying': The horror story of medical mistreatment in Oman hospital from recovering Cofidis rider
Latest Comments
- Is the Giro the race that happens before the Tour? And does winning the mountains jersey mean Carapaz scored the most points on climbs? Which race was everyone’s favourite?bikebuffj05-11-2026
- How did Mathieu van der Poel miss the list? His classics results surely put him in the conversation.sprocketspiny05-11-2026
- McNulty deserves more credit than his ranking suggests. A world title and all that work as a domestique make for a superb season.tourdeforce905-11-2026
- Seixas winning Lombardia at 20 is astonishing. The “next Pogačar” label feels a bit premature, though—let him build his own story before piling on the comparisons.andrewf05-11-2026
- Pogačar’s palmarès is ridiculous, but Van Aert deserves a special mention for Roubaix. Beating Tadej in the velodrome was one of the moments of the season.cyclechamp4505-11-2026
- I’m still learning the calendar: is cyclocross mainly preparation for the spring classics, or does he race it as a separate goal as well? I’d love to see him back in the mud.jeremya04-11-2026
- The article makes it sound as if Roubaix is the only classic where he has a realistic shot. He’s been close in Flanders too, and one good tactical day can change everything.jennifer1904-11-2026
- Milan-Sanremo and Roubaix is a pretty special pair of Monuments. Any clues yet on which cyclocross races he’ll target?andrewf04-11-2026
- He’s right to be realistic about Flanders with Pogačar and Evenepoel around, but you can’t count Van Aert out on those roads. If he gets the right opportunity, he has the engine and experience to take it.davidm04-11-2026
- That Roubaix win felt like such a release after all the near-misses. Brilliant to hear that joy outweighed relief for Wout.patriciaw04-11-2026