Thibau Nys wins European cyclocross title in Zeddam, Belgians fill podium

A second European title in Zeddam

Thibau Nys won the men's race at the European cyclocross championships in Zeddam, the Netherlands, on Sunday, 8 November 2026, claiming his second European title. He takes the jersey from Toon Aerts, the defending champion, who could not defend it because of a knee injury. Nys won his first European title in 2024 in Pontevedra, Spain, and finished second behind Aerts in Middelkerke last year. Belgium filled the podium, with Joran Wyseure taking silver and Niels Vandeputte bronze. Joris Nieuwenhuis, a rider from the Achterhoek region, finished fourth as the best Dutch rider.

Attacks on the staircase

Nys and Michael Vanthourenhout, the two leading Belgian favourites, lost ground in the first lap. A group of eight, led by Felipe Orts of Spain, went clear with the 99-step staircase as the decisive point on the course. Nys made an early bike change out of dissatisfaction with his tyre choice, a move almost nobody else made at these championships. In the fourth lap he opened a small gap on a bendy strip and rode away, but Joran Wyseure and Kevin Kuhn came back to him. Joris Nieuwenhuis then jumped out of the chasing group in search of the lead, and Briton Cameron Mason drove the pace with Nieuwenhuis toward Kuhn.

Final lap on the staircase

Kuhn, the Swiss rider, was dropped in the seventh of nine laps, leaving Nys and Wyseure at the front. The pair stayed together until the staircase in the final lap, where Nys attacked and gained a gap that Wyseure could not close. He held that advantage to the finish. After the race Nys described his tactics:

“I put everything into that staircase, hoping to gain two, three seconds there.”

Dutch disappointment and Belgian favourites

Nieuwenhuis, who had won at Woerden before the championships, was the best-placed Dutchman in front of a home crowd. While still racing, he said of the support on the course:

“Deafening, really great. Getting onto the podium would have made it complete.”

He then lost the sprint for bronze to Vandeputte and finished fourth. Before the race, RTBF reported that Michael Vanthourenhout arrived with four wins and three podiums in seven outings this season, and that Nys had won as soon as he returned at the Koppenbergcross.