European Cyclocross Champion Thibau Nys added the Belgian national title to his palmares on Sunday with a lone late attack on the snowy Heusden-Zolder course that brooked no opposition.
Silver went to 2020 Belgian National Champion Laurens Sweeck, unable to resist Nys' surging move on the sixth lap of seven and crossing the line nine seconds back, with Toon Aerts coming home third 11 seconds adrift.
Run off through snowdrifts, and thick mud and featuring a dangerously greasy downhill bend nicknamed the 'corner of death', the tensely fought race saw no rider able to gain the upper hand until Nys made his definitive charge for glory.
The son of longstanding cyclocross great Sven Nys, the 22-year-old Thibau only opened up a margin of a handful of seconds by the finish.
But despite looking back repeatedly as he closed to the line, the gap was enough to ensure the Baloise-Trek Lions rider could clinch his first national 'cross title at professional level, and the tenth gold cyclo-cross medal in his family's history.
“I tested my legs early in the race and felt good,” Nys said afterwards, "then I really went for it when the rest were on the limit. That was the best strategy."
"My season is a real success now, but if you have the European and Belgian champion's jerseys, of course, you want to have more wins as well - to make those jerseys shine even more."
How it unfolded
Dry weather rendered the very muddy and snowy course a little less risky, but some crashes on the first lap as the race slowly fired into life nonetheless encouraged a cautious start for one of the mostly keenly anticipated national cyclocross titles this Sunday. By the end of the lap, though, a group of five riders had tentatively moved towards the front, including most of the main protagonists of the day: Nys, Emiel Verstrynge, 2023 Belgian champion Michael Vanthourenhout, Sweeck and Toon Aerts.
However, only 20 seconds separated the first 20 riders by the end of lap one, so in stark contrast to the elite women's race where Marion Norbert Riberolle was clearly superior to the rest, nobody seemed able to get an early advantage.
Aerts was on the front of the group as they clattered up and over the mid-lap bridge for a second time, while Nys led the front group of five riders across the line at the end of lap two with a narrow advantage. But of the favourites, only defending champion Eli Iserbyt, fading badly on a couple of stiff, perilously muddy ascents, seemed to be in real difficulties, and even he warmed up notably later and bridged across the leading break.
Living up to his status of pre-race favourite, Sweeck began to take more and more turns on the front, although with riders as concerned with staying upright as opening gaps, the notable lack of outright attacks stretched deep into the third lap. Finally, though, the general attrition rate on such tough terrain was such it allowed Nys, Sweeck, Aerts, Niels Vandeputte, Verstrynge and Vanthourenhout to eke out a double-digit advantage on their closest chasers.
Could this be the defining break of the race? Iserbyt and Joran Wyseure made a major effort to get across - for which they both paid the price later - as Nys tested the water with vicious little digs on the climbs and Sweeck put in yet more of his trademark sustained accelerations on the flatter segments. Yet by the half way point of the seven-lap, 3.45-kilometre course, beyond Iserbyt finally dropping off the radar for good, nothing was really decided and with six riders ahead, everything remained to play for.
Lap 5 began very differently, though, as Sweeck piled on even more pressure on the most waterlogged, slushy segments of the course, often remaining seated on some of the most difficult little ascents to maintain his momentum and distance his rivals. It was a strategy which paid dividends given only Aerts could follow and as the leading duo turned their heads in the finishing straight to check the distance on their rivals, their gap was already up to nearly ten seconds.
But despite his gloomy headshakes - as if throwing in the towel - Nys did manage to close the gap again, with Vanthourenhout and Vandeputte a little further back. Then on a corner, Nys timed his move perfectly to dive through the inside into the lead. In no time at all, the race found its winner, as Aerts miscalculated his line, Sweeck faded slightly and Vanthourenhout crashed on an ultra-treacherous downhill. Put it all together, and Nys suddenly found himself leading solo - and leading well.
Going into the final lap, Nys led by 10 seconds on Sweeck, with Vandeputte a further four behind and to judge by the way Nys blasted up the final climbs as if he was just starting the race, it was clear he had a lot of energy left in the tank. Vandeputte faded but still managed to hang on for fourth, but by that point and after such a long period where nobody could get the upper hand, Nys victory was definitively in the bag and the podium finishers alongside him were all but decided as well.
After a difficult start, the race winner recounted afterwards, "I quickly realised that I had the legs to move up and get past my rivals. So I certainly did not panic.
"I also tested my legs with a little attack, and I realized that I could gap the rest when I wanted to. After that, it was just a question of finding the right moment to drop them.”
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