After winning a blockbuster bronze medal in the cyclocross world championships – the “best of the rest” behind Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert – Thibau Nys is now preparing to become one of the biggest players in road cycling.

The son of Sven, a champion racer who won almost 300 cyclocross races in his long and distinguished career, 22-year-old Thibau was seemingly destined to follow in his father’s wheel tracks.

And after winning 11 races and carving out a reputation as a fast finisher capable of getting over small rises in his first two seasons as a pro, the young Belgian has even started inheriting members of his father’s fan club.

With the latest ‘cross season now behind him – in which he became European champion and won a couple of rounds of the World Cup – he will begin his road season with Lidl-Trek on Saturday at the GP Miguel Indurain before he heads to Itzulia Basque Country next week.

He’ll then focus on the Ardennes classics before appearing at his first grand tour, either the Tour de France or the Vuelta a España.

“It’s about trying to show everything I did last season, but now bringing it over to bigger races and trying to win them,” Nys told the press, including Velo. “Maybe it’s not an easy step, maybe it’ll come in two years, but I hope to make it in one [year].”

This article was published by Velo in April 2025. To read the full story click here.