Thibau Nys behaves like a superstar in waiting. Two days before his debut at the Tour de France, the 22-year-old Belgian rider is speaking to the media with a natural swagger. His eyes are hidden behind dark sunglasses – which don’t come off for the entirety of the press conference – and his tattooed arm stands out in the sunlight. It’s a huge moment in the Lidl-Trek man’s career. In many ways, Nys taking to the start of the biggest bike race in the world seems like a sort of destiny. Bike riding is in his blood. He was born for this.
“I watched the Tour in 2016 by the roadside when Froome went running up Ventoux. I remember as a kid when I was way younger riding my bike in a green jersey because Tom Boonen was in green at the time,” he smiles. “I knew from a young age that this was the biggest stage, but I never really knew if I’d be doing this. It’s gone fast from that point and now we’re here.”
The rainbow jersey as a junior at the cyclo-cross Worlds, the U23 European Road Race championship, the elite European cyclo-cross title last year, the fifth place in his first Monument on the road with Lidl-Trek earlier this season, the stage wins in the Tour of Poland, Suisse, Hungary, Norway and Romandie have all been part of the glittering journey to this point. Guided by his father Sven, a two-time cyclo-cross world champion and seven-time World Cup winner, Thibau was always expected to be good – it’s in his genes. So far, he has been living up to expectations.
Image: Getty/David Pintens
But with such success comes the inevitable pressure. Ahead of his Tour debut and an opening week with punchy stages that should suit the Belgian perfectly, Nys is playing things down.
“I’m not as confident as I’d like to be two days before the Tour,” he admits. “It’s been quite a difficult period with a hard crash in altitude camp then I started to feel better again. I did a nice race in GP Gippingen but then I got sick in the Tour of Belgium, which was mentally not ideal. We’ve done everything in our power to be ready and I know there are chances in that opening week, but it will be crazy and hectic.”
Nys pinpoints stages six and seven as ones where he thinks he could try his luck, but ”only if the shape is there”, the Belgian hastens to add. He’s not afraid to say that he wants a stage win, but doesn’t shy away from the difficult reality of making that happen. Nys knows, as part of this attacking, swashbuckling, fearless generation, that it is harder than ever to win bike races. At the Tour especially, every rider has an insatiable appetite for success.
“I’ve never experienced this so I don’t know how to compare the level to every race I’ve done in the past. I know where I am standing from training but it makes it difficult to make a prediction of the results and what I can do,” he explains. “I don’t know if a stage win is possible, but I know I can learn from this experience and make the best of it. It’s a big goal to just get to Paris.”
His words echo those of many debutants in Grand Tours who argue that the simple dream is just making it to the Champs-Élysées in three weeks time, regardless of the results along the way, but Nys knows that he is a little bit different. His bloodline, his results so far, the unique ability he has shown to jump away from the peloton on short, steep climbs, mean that people expect something from the Lidl-Trek rider, whether he likes it or not. The solution to the pressure, and the key to getting it right on the day, Nys believes, is mindset.
Image: ASO/Billy Ceusters
“It is about being sharp mentally, then the legs will speak,” he states. “I think the more I am focused on something, the more I feel ready to shut myself off and find that tunnel vision. I need to be in this for the first week. There is no time to sit in the last spot – it will be crazy and hectic. This is the biggest stage and mental and physical balance and focus will be needed.”
When you are Thibau Nys, Belgian’s next big thing with a legendary cyclo-cross rider father and the sort of talent that has been talked about since you were a teenager, though, finding the focus can’t always be easy. To his credit, the 22-year-old seems to be taking it in his stride. This Tour provides opportunities, and Nys is acutely aware of that, but for him it is also about learning and understanding the brutal beauty of the greatest bike race on the planet. There is no doubt that his future is bright, but Nys is in no rush to get there yet.
“Everyone I speak with says, okay, but in the Tour it is different,” he states. “I know I need to be at one hundred and ten percent, maybe even higher than that, to try and fight for a stage win. The level of these guys who win is getting a bit scary, and I don’t know yet how I will compare.”
Cover image: Getty/Soccrates images
