The World Championships in Hulst produced the expected winner, and you could actually say that the entire podium was also predicted in advance. However, Thibau Nys could easily have moved up one place, if not for a remarkable tire choice.
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A female tube
After the rain, Nys barely had any grip, which cost him a lot of energy. Father Sven also saw this in the studio: “The choice of tires cost him the silver medal,” he said straight away. “I think he was physically capable of coming second. He shifted from left to right and just couldn’t compete anymore.”
Nys Sr does not avoid the discussion, but at the same time he is not critical of the matter. That is a bit different with Bart Wellens. In his column at Het Nieuwsblad, he shoots sharply at Nys’s choice.
“I have something to say about Thibau’s tire choice,” he starts. “If you see that you are the only one who chooses that profile, then I think you should change. The tube Thibau rode with is, in my own eyes, a women’s tube,” he said firmly. “Men have too much power to drive that.”
Opportunity missed
According to Wellens, Nys made a major blunder to lose a silver medal at a World Cup in this way. “This was a World Cup here, right? Then you have to opt for that heavier profile. Technically Thibau is one of the very best and yet he lost ten to fifteen meters in every descent.”
“And certainly when it started to rain, it was over for him. Again, if your main competitors start with a heavier profile, you have to change, even if that is on the penultimate lap,” concludes Wellens.
