Thibau Nys went from Koppenberg glory to Rapencross frustration in less than 24 hours. The European champion endured a nightmare race on Sunday at the X2O Badkamers Trofee’s second round in Lokeren, Belgium. A string of mechanical issues derailed his chances and left him visibly exasperated.
Joris Nieuwenhuis got rid of Michael Vanthourenhout to take his first win of the season. Nys, winner of Saturday’s opening round in his season debut, had a terrible day, finishing 3:37 down. He dropped down to fourth on overall time in the series.
“Everything that could go wrong today, went wrong,” Thibau Nys told Sporza. “I had the legs I wanted—I felt really good. I missed my start a bit, but I moved up quickly. Then I switched to a lighter tread, rode into a pit right after the pit zone, and my shifters dropped down. It was terrible to steer like that.”
Losing his cool 😳
Thibaut Nys not happy with his bike at the X²O Trofee Veldrijden❌ pic.twitter.com/OelGm9Qmmo
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) November 2, 2025
After another bike change, his luck didn’t improve. “The next one had crooked handlebars, then the next time the saddle nose dropped all the way down. Once that happened, it was over,” he said. “If it keeps piling up, you just can’t manage it anymore.”
His father, former world champ Sven Nys, admitted the shifter issue was on him. “Yes, that was my fault,” he told Sporza. “That should not happen.”
Asked if there would be tension at home that night, Thibau said everything would be OK. “No, I don’t think so. I’m eating at my mom’s. There’s not much to talk about—it’s okay,” Thibau said.
Despite the frustration, the young Belgian managed to find some optimism. “I’m satisfied with the feeling. I’d recovered well from yesterday, and I had a lot of punch in the first half of the race,” he said.
It was, as his dad summed up, one of those days in cyclocross that no amount of power can save—only lessons learned for the next start line. That’s bike racing, basically.