Thibau Nys abandons Baloise Belgium Tour due to illness but Tour de France debut not in doubt

Thibau Nys has been forced to abandon the Baloise Belgium Tour ahead of the final weekend due to illness. Lidl-Trek announced on Saturday morning that Nys and teammate Tim Declercq had abandoned the race due to overnight “gastrointestinal trouble.”

Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, directeur sportif Maxime Monfort downplayed the impact of the abandon on Nys’ anticipated Tour de France debut.

“He feels empty and tired," Monfort said. “He should be able to get back on the bike on Sunday. Our selection has not been announced yet, but we are not worried."

Nys had put himself into a strong position to claim the overall victory at the Belgium Baloise Tour thanks to a strong display in Friday’s time trial, as Saturday’s punchy finale in Durbuy looked perfectly tailored to his talents.

“We had big ambitions for the general classification with him and he was the top favourite today,” Monfort said. “His abandonment is therefore regrettable, but there is nothing we can do about it. He did not just want to start for the sake of starting and of course there are other races coming up.”

Nys is also among the favourites for next week’s road race at the Belgian Championships. The 22-year-old, who has designs on shining at the Tour de France, made a late start to his road season, but he began with a win at the GP Miguel Induráin in April and he placed second at last week’s GP Gippingen in Switzerland.