For Thibau Nys, the Rapencross in Lokeren became a race to forget very quickly. According to the Belgian, he had very good legs, but his equipment let him down multiple times. This caused considerable frustration for the European champion, but everything has since been cleared up.
Mechanical problems, issues with the shifters, and finally a few crashes as well. No, it was not Thibau Nys's day in Lokeren. On TV, we saw an angry Nys who lost focus in the final laps and ultimately gave up. "After the first time, I started fighting again, and after the second time as well, but the third time was just the final straw," he said afterwards to the camera of WielerFlits.
The most important question, one day after the much-discussed race in Lokeren: has everything been resolved within the Nys camp? His father Sven – who is also responsible for adjusting the bikes – already admitted to some fault after the race.
"His brake levers shifted on the slightest downhill, forcing him to steer completely differently. We mounted it the way we always have throughout his career," he reflects a day later to Sporza. "The only difference is that the handlebars were changed this year. It was the first extreme test for the equipment. Clearly, we will have to pay a bit more attention to that going forward."
Nys junior was furious during the race and let his frustrations run free, but did he calm down afterwards? "We were together in the car on the way home. That is actually not a bad environment to quickly evaluate and look into what the exact problems were," his father explains. "Of course it was frustrating for him. If something shifts just a millimeter, the bike handles completely differently, leading to a brief loss of control."
Youthful disappointment
"He told me this morning when he watched the footage that he would have preferred to approach it differently. So it’s a kind of youthful disappointment. That characterizes his drive and ambition," concludes the former top cyclocross rider. His son has since switched gears, gearing up for the European Cyclocross Championships in Middelkerke. "Thibau went out to train this morning with full motivation again."
