Thibau Nys wins fast and furious battle in Dendermonde

Thibau Nys battled his way to victory after a criterium-like race in Dendermonde, Belgium, in the eighth round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup.

In a thrilling final lap shootout on a fast course in Dendermonde, the Belgian champion was tactically on point and had the explosivity to sprint his way to victory ahead of Tibor Del Grosso and the World Cup leader Laurens Sweeck with a final lap time of 4:54 and average speed 30.54km/h.

It’s the fifth victory for the Belgian champion this season, and his first since winning the World Cup round in Flamanville, France, at the end of November.

The weather led to a firm and fast course, rather than a mud fest, which led to a race that is about as close to a criterium as a cyclocross race could be, with very quick lap times and speeds and a compact group of riders battling for the win, a big opportunity with the absence of the World Champion Mathieu van der Poel.

Ryan Kamp led the field through the finish at the end of lap one, with the first 21 riders separated by only 11 seconds, illustrating how fast the course was and the compactness of the riders as a result.

Felipe Orts had managed to open a three-second gap at the end of the third lap. The Spanish Champion was chased down initially by Emiel Verstrynge, before the Belgian Champion Thibau Nys took matters into his own hands to close down the final few seconds of Orts’s advantage.

This saw a split in the main group, with Wout van Aert among those caught in the second split, and the Belgian took the initiative to jump across to avoid the gap growing larger across the finish line, leading into lap five.

It was lap five where the Belgian champion Nys put the pressure on the front, stretching out the pack with Tibor Del Grosso and Michael Vanthourenhout also active. 

Van Aert took the front of the race for the first time on lap 8, and by lap 9, a clear gap separated the front pack of ten riders from the rest. 

Disaster struck for Alpecin-Deceuninck when Del Grosso and Niels Vandeputte both suffered punctures on lap 9, giving them plenty of work to return to the leading pack in such fast conditions.

Onto the eleventh and penultimate lap, Laurens Sweeck, who had been hidden in the wheels, hit the front of the pack and held pole position going into the final lap with Nys in his wheel.

Eventually, after a couple of attempts, Nys was able to make his move past Sweeck, and Del Grosso likewise was able to move past the World Cup leader. However, Nys opened a bike length on the Dutch rider and with a short finish straight combined with a tailwind, it was enough to seal the victory. Van Aert ended in sixth place behind Verstrynge in 4th and Vandeputte in 5th.

Meanwhile, Lucinda Brand won her eleventh consecutive cyclocross race, with a storming ride in the elite women’s category to extend her lead in the overall standings. 

The World Cup leader finished 0:11 ahead of Puck Pieterse, who showed continued signs of progress since her return to the cross field. Amandine Fouquenet, who has made leaps and bounds recently, continues to enjoy the best cross season of her career with another World Cup podium in third place.

The racing continues on Monday with the fifth round of the X2O Badkamers Trofee at the Azencross in Loenhout, Belgium. It will mark the third meeting between Van Aert and Van der Poel this cross season, with the latter winning the previous two editions.