Could a dominant World Cup winner avoid bad luck and mishaps to claim the rainbow jersey as the pre-race favorite?
U23 Men, 2023 UCI Cyclocross World Championships, Hoogerheide. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
While Dutch star Lauren Molengraaf couldn’t achieve such a goal due to a flat tire in the Junior Women’s race, Belgian Thibau Nys, winner of four U23 World Cups, had no problem doing so in the U23 Men’s World Championship race.
Nys fought for the front with Dutch rival Tibor del Grosso early in the race, sitting on his wheel on the pavement and moving to the front before the technical descents.
Nys and Del Grosso battle for the front early in the race. Nys picked a Challenge Limus tubular for the mud. U23 Men, 2023 UCI Cyclocross World Championships, Hoogerheide. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Nys flew down the descents and into the greasy turns. Have a watch of the thrilling drone footage:
This view. 👀#Hoogerheide2023 pic.twitter.com/bD4qS3fLxj
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) February 4, 2023
Del Grosso faded, and by Lap Three, Nys stretched out his lead to five seconds over teammate Witse Meeussen with Del Grosso and defending champ Joran Wyseure further behind.
Nys riding away. U23 Men, 2023 UCI Cyclocross World Championships, Hoogerheide. © B. Hazen / Cyclocross Magazine
Nys used his technical skills and grippy Challenge Limus tires to open up gaps on the descents, and powered away on the flats and climbs to put in the fastest lap times in the first five laps.
Soon it was a race for second, and Del Grosso took a close sprint to take silver over Meeussen.
This sprint for second and third place 🤯
Tibor Del gross 🇳🇱 and Witse Meeussen 🇧🇪 completes the podium in Hoogerheide. #Hoogerheide2023 pic.twitter.com/ykIzMDLOPl
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) February 4, 2023
Nys explained how tire choice dictated his race strategy. “The start was perfect. I had the right wheel. I saw that David [Haverdings] and Tibor [del Grosso] started on [Dugast] Small Bird tires,” he recalled. “I just went with the roughest profile, the hardest one, and I knew I needed to turn first into the wood section in the technical zone because I had more grip on my tires. Immediately I took four to five meters. It was really hard to ride the whole race alone. On the fast-rolling sections, I had the feeling that the rolling resistance was so bad, but I had the power to pull it off and ride the perfect race.”
It’s not the first time tire choice proved critical in winning a rainbow jersey, after Wout van Aert’s double casing tubulars prevented flats in 2017 and helped him ride away from Mathieu van der Poel who had four flats.
Nys was emotional after his win. “I wanted this so bad, I worked so hard for this,” he said. “It was my biggest goal of the season. And the pressure was huge. It’s a race where you can’t make any mistakes. To pull this off is amazing.”
I knew I needed to turn first into the wood section in the technical zone because I had more grip on my tires. -Thibau Nys
Team USA’s Andrew Strohmeyer finished in 42nd
See the full results below. Stay tuned for more coverage and photos. See coverage of the Junior Women’s race here, and the Elite Women’s race here.
2023 Hoogerheide UCI Cyclocross World Championships Results: U23 Men
| Pos | Nr | Name | Nation | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 7 | NYS Thibau BELGIUM | Belgium | 50:42 | - |
| 2. | 10 | DEL GROSSO Tibor NETHERLANDS | Netherlands | 50:46 | +0:04 |
| 3. | 5 | MEEUSSEN Witse BELGIUM | Belgium | 50:46 | +0:04 |
| 4. | 1 | WYSEURE Joran BELGIUM | Belgium | 50:47 | +0:05 |
| 5. | 6 | MICHELS Jente BELGIUM | Belgium | 51:41 | +0:59 |
| 6. | 9 | VERSTRYNGE Emiel BELGIUM | Belgium | 51:47 | +1:05 |
| 7. | 3 | BELMANS Lennert BELGIUM | Belgium | 51:48 | +1:06 |
| 8. | 8 | VAN DE PUTTE Victor BELGIUM | Belgium | 51:48 | +1:06 |
| 9. | 13 | JANSSEN Lucas NETHERLANDS | Netherlands | 51:48 | +1:06 |
| 10. | 28 | BLACKMORE Joseph GREAT BRITAIN | United Kingdom | 51:50 | +1:08 |
| 11. | 4 | DOCKX Aaron BELGIUM | Belgium | 51:51 | +1:09 |
| 12. | 18 | LELANDAIS Rémi FRANCE | France | 52:04 | +1:22 |
| 13. | 17 | GROSLAMBERT Martin FRANCE | France | 52:10 | +1:28 |
| 14. | 16 | BOMMENEL Nathan FRANCE | France | 52:22 | +1:40 |
| 15. | 2 | BAERS Arne BELGIUM | Belgium | 52:28 | +1:46 |
| 16. | 14 | VAN LIEROP Danny NETHERLANDS | Netherlands | 52:38 | +1:56 |
| 17. | 29 | CARRICK-ANDERSON Corran GREAT BRITAIN | United Kingdom | 52:53 | +2:11 |
| 18. | 11 | GROENENDAAL Bailey NETHERLANDS | Netherlands | 52:56 | +2:14 |
| 19. | 12 | HAVERDINGS David NETHERLANDS | Netherlands | 53:04 | +2:22 |
| 20. | 21 | CHRISTEN Jan SWITZERLAND | Switzerland | 53:11 | +2:29 |
| 21. | 22 | LILLO Dario SWITZERLAND | Switzerland | 53:32 | +2:50 |
| 22. | 15 | VERBURG Luke NETHERLANDS | Netherlands | 53:37 | +2:55 |
| 23. | 31 | TONEATTI Davide ITALY | Italy | 53:45 | +3:03 |
| 24. | 30 | AGOSTINACCHIO Filippo ITALY | Italy | 53:58 | +3:16 |
| 25. | 35 | SUAREZ FERNANDEZ Alain SPAIN | Spain | 54:01 | +3:19 |
| 26. | 37 | FIALA Matyáš CZECH REPUBLIC | Czech Republic | 54:01 | +3:19 |
| 27. | 47 | KUSCHLA Silas GERMANY | Germany | 54:06 | +3:24 |
| 28. | 45 | HARTER Luca GERMANY | Germany | 54:08 | +3:26 |
| 29. | 24 | SOMMER Lars SWITZERLAND | Switzerland | 54:19 | +3:37 |
| 30. | 39 | KOPECKÝ Matyás CZECH REPUBLIC | Czech Republic | 54:32 | +3:50 |
| 31. | 38 | JINDRICH Pavel CZECH REPUBLIC | Czech Republic | 54:37 | +3:55 |
| 32. | 26 | RUSSELL Evan CANADA | Canada | 54:37 | +3:55 |
| 33. | 44 | DEGENKOLB Hannes GERMANY | Germany | 54:49 | +4:07 |
| 34. | 40 | STRÁNSKÝ Matej CZECH REPUBLIC | Czech Republic | 55:04 | +4:22 |
| 35. | 19 | LEQUET Corentin FRANCE | France | 55:24 | +4:42 |
| 36. | 27 | SCOTT Cody CANADA | Canada | 55:26 | +4:44 |
| 37. | 23 | OPPIZZI Matteo SWITZERLAND | Switzerland | 55:26 | +4:44 |
| 38. | 53 | POMIAN Szymon POLAND | Poland | 55:31 | +4:49 |
| 39. | 51 | YUNOKI Shingen JAPAN | Japan | 55:55 | +5:13 |
| 40. | 50 | SOEJIMA Tatsuumi JAPAN | Japan | 56:06 | +5:24 |
| 41. | 34 | INGUANZO MACHO Gonzalo SPAIN | Spain | 56:13 | +5:31 |
| 42. | 25 | STROHMEYER Andrew UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | United States | 56:13 | +5:31 |
| 43. | 48 | RAMIREZ VENEGAS Joseph Gerardo COSTA RICA | Costa Rica | 56:17 | +5:35 |
| 44. | 43 | WANG Gustav DENMARK | Denmark | 56:17 | +5:35 |
| 45. | 41 | MÅRD Filip SWEDEN | Sweden | 56:23 | +5:41 |
| 46. | 36 | CERNÝ Patrik CZECH REPUBLIC | Czech Republic | 56:48 | +6:06 |
| 47. | 46 | HERRMANN Lukas GERMANY | Germany | 56:54 | +6:12 |
| 48. | 54 | NASH Tristan AUSTRALIA | Australia | 57:31 | +6:49 |
| 49. | 49 | KOIVISTOINEN Aku FINLAND | Finland | -1 LAP | |
| 50. | 42 | ROSENDAHL Karl-Erik DENMARK | Denmark | -1 LAP | |
| 51. | 52 | LUKOW Antoni POLAND | Poland | -2 LAP |
Featured photo: Bart Hazen
