Another promising performance from the Belgian talent
Thibau Nys continued his strong Vuelta a España with a hard-fought third place on Stage 15, as the Lidl-Trek rider featured in the five-man group that battled for victory in Córdoba.
On a day marked by extreme heat, the stage was shortened from its original 189.7-kilometre route to 110.2 kilometres. Despite the reduced distance, the intense conditions and challenging terrain made for an aggressive race from the start.
After the decisive moves were made in the closing kilometres, Nys found himself alongside Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana), Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) at the head of the race.
Nys showed his fighting spirit in the finale, launching an attack with 3.5 kilometres remaining in an attempt to distance his rivals. When that move was brought back, the Belgian went long in the sprint, hitting the front with 300 metres to go.
Van Aert proved too strong in the final metres, with Romele also coming past Nys to take second. Nys nevertheless held on for a well-deserved third place, adding another strong result to his Vuelta campaign.
With the final week approaching, the 23-year-old continues to show his improving form and hunger for more.
Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images
In Thibau's words
The sprint was a lot slower than I thought. In the end, 300 meters was a long way in the sprint. I was scared of getting boxed in or missing the moment in the last meters and I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I went too late and didn’t start myself, so I took the risk to go but it was too far.
I was scared that someone would come from behind with a lot of speed for a late attack but in the end Wout was really dominant.
