Cyclocross world champion Mathieu van der Poel hasn't lost a cyclocross race in almost two years; his most recent defeat came in Benidorm in late January 2024. However, Thibau Nys pushed him all the way in Namur on Sunday.
The Dutchman was making his season debut at the fourth round of this year's UCI World Cup, overcoming an early crash to eventually cross the line solo for the 110th victory of his career. Nys followed home in second, nine seconds down, two up on Michael Vanthourenhout.
But Nys had been closer to glory than the final results suggest, with the 23-year-old former European champion leading and putting the pressure on at the midway mark and later sticking with Van der Poel as his rival launched several attacks.
Nys clung on, but a mistake on the final lap – a crash on a descent – saw him fall out of contention, leaving Van der Poel clear to race off for another victory.
"Without my slip-up on the last lap, I wouldn't have been dropped," Nys said later, according to Het Nieuwsblad.
"I would have preferred to be beaten on power, not like this. But the fault is mine; I should have taken this opportunity. Because of that crash, I feel like I couldn't ride the final."
Nys, who had racked up three wins in a row heading into the race, including at the World Cup meets in Tabor and Flamanville, explained that he had the legs to make a move in the final but wasn't able to show what he could do thanks to his spill.
"My feeling was pretty good; I felt I still had a lot of power at the end. When I was able to follow Van der Poel, I wanted to make an explosive attack afterwards, but my mistake prevented me from doing so."
He'll continue to do battle with Van der Poel as the season goes on, with the world champion set for another 11 races before he defends the rainbow stripes in Hulst on February 1.
However, Sunday's race might have been a rare golden opportunity to come out on top, Nys acknowledged.
"This was definitely an opportunity to beat Van der Poel, and I should have taken it, especially since I have a weight advantage here," he said.
"In races like Koksijde, with similar weight ratios, it's always tougher. I'm happy with the feeling, though. We can build on this. Mathieu's performance will only increase by a few percentage points, but a race like today does offer a perspective."
