{"id":433134,"date":"2026-01-25T22:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T22:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/433134\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T22:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T22:53:08","slug":"it-was-my-own-fault-thibau-nys-expresses-frustration-and-disappointment-after-a-tactical-mistake-costs-him-a-podium-spot-at-cyclo-cross-world-cup-in-hoogerheide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/433134\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It was my own fault’ – Thibau Nys expresses frustration and disappointment after a tactical mistake costs him a podium spot at cyclo-cross World Cup in Hoogerheide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thibau Nys<\/a> (Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsbureau Lions) was left frustrated with himself after sitting up before the line and being beaten into fourth at the final UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup<\/a> of the season in Hoogerheide.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old led out a sprint finish for second place from a large chasing group, behind winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech).<\/p>\n

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However, the Belgian misjudged his effort on the uphill asphalt finish and saw Alpecin-Premier Tech teammates Tibor Del Grosso and Niels Vandeputte pass him to take second and third respectively in the final metres.<\/p>\n

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It capped a frustrating weekend for Nys, who was also beaten in the sprint for second by the same riders the previous day at the penultimate UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup round in Maasmechelen<\/a>, also won by Van der Poel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe disappointment is great, there\u2019s not much more to say,\u201d said Nys afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t really a plan; it was so fast that I had to gamble for the last lap. I didn’t have the freshest legs, and it was difficult to make a difference.<\/p>\n

“I had the feeling that I was the strongest behind Mathieu, but that doesn’t buy you anything. I gave up the sprint. It\u2019s a shame that I couldn\u2019t finish it off for second.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nys was surprised by being passed a metre from the line by a fast-finishing Vandeputte for third, adding, \u201cIt was my own fault, I had to sprint until the line. I thought I had it, but he (Vandeputte) came with a lot of speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very annoying sprint to start from the front. From behind, they came with much more speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end, Niels (Vandeputte) surprised me, but that’s my own fault. I should have sprinted to the finish. There is no excuse for that.”<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Alpecin-Premier Tech celebrated a perfect weekend with an identical podium clean-sweep at both Hoogerheide and Maasmechelen.<\/p>\n

Del Grosso came off the wheel of Nys to finish second, continuing an impressive first season as an elite cyclo-cross rider with his fifth World Cup podium. The Dutchman also recorded an impressive sprint win at Heusden-Zolder last month, where he beat Wout Van Aert in a head-to-head battle.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on finishing runner-up behind Van der Poel for the second time in a weekend, Del Grosso said, \u201cThis one was an even closer sprint than yesterday (at Maasmechelen).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I accelerated out of the final corner, I felt that I didn\u2019t have my best legs anymore, and Thibau (Nys) also did a really good sprint. But it\u2019s a really tricky one to start from the front. Niels (Vandeputte) came out of nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a delighted Vandeputte said that he \u2018kept believing\u2019 in the sprint finish, despite starting behind coming into the uphill rise to the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it wouldn\u2019t be easy to repeat yesterday\u2019s podium, but we (Alpecin-Premier Tech) did it, and we can be happy again about today,\u201d said Vandeputte.<\/p>\n

\u201cI [started the sprint] a few metres behind coming onto the tarmac. I kept believing because I know it goes uphill in the last 100 metres, and it\u2019s easy to lose a few metres once you stop pedalling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just kept going all out until the line, and that was enough to overtake Thibau (Nys) also. I\u2019m happy to finish third.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nys can be encouraged going into next weekend\u2019s UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships as he again looked the strongest competitor to Van der Poel.<\/p>\n

At Maasmechelen the previous day, the young Belgian reflected on going from \u2018one mistake to another\u2019, which cost him in the podium fight.<\/p>\n

The following day at Hoogerheide, Nys was too far back in the fast leading pack when Van der Poel made his winning move on the third lap.<\/p>\n

Nys tried to ride clear in pursuit of the World Champion but lacked enough power on the quick Hoogerheide course to break away from his opponents and got enthralled in a cagey battle for second with 18 competitors.<\/p>\n

After coming into the weekend following a training block in Benidorm, the Belgian hopes to be fresher at next weekend\u2019s Worlds in Hulst.<\/p>\n

Talking to Wielerflits<\/a> after his disappointment at Maasmechelen, Nys said, “I didn’t start here with an extreme amount of ‘workload’. But the maximum of what I could do this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt that. I think I should look for more freshness towards the World Championships by next week. I’m on schedule to ride a good cross there, I think.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a perfect preparation. I was able to train well, do what I had to do. I hope that can show itself in a good result next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot will also depend on the condition of the course in Hulst, but normally I can do that, and I should be fresher at the start.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thibau Nys (Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsbureau Lions) was left frustrated with himself after sitting up before the line and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-433134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}