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How a steak tartare almost derailed Thibau Nys’ Vuelta before it even began After knee surgery wiped out his entire spring and reduced his 2026 road season to just seven days of racing, Thibau Nys thought he had finally put the worst behind him. Then came toxoplasmosis. Now, after another uncertain build up, the 23-year-old Belgian is heading to the Vuelta a España hoping to salvage a season he would rather forget. Thibau Nys’ already difficult season took another unexpected turn because of a steak tartare. The Lidl-Trek rider believes the raw meat dish was the most likely source of the toxoplasmosis infection that disrupted his preparation for the Vuelta and briefly put his participation in doubt. “I think a steak tartare was the cause,” Nys said on the JOE morning show. The infection required twelve days of antibiotics. More worrying was how little Nys initially noticed away from the bike. “If it had happened during a recovery block, I probably wouldn’t even have noticed it,” he said. “It was only in training that I realised I couldn’t really push myself anymore. After two hours, I was completely done.” The illness forced him to miss the Clásica San Sebastián, while the Tour of Burgos also disappeared from his programme. It was another setback in a season that had barely begun. A spring lost to injury Nys entered 2026 with significant ambitions after an impressive 2025 Ardennes campaign, when he finished 12th at Amstel Gold Race, eighth at La Flèche Wallonne and fifth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. But recurring pain in his left knee changed everything. In March, he underwent surgery to treat prepatellar friction syndrome, ruling him out of the entire spring Classics campaign. A planned Giro d’Italia debut in May was also scrapped. His first road race of the year did not come until June 14, when he returned with fourth place at the GP Gippingen. Three days later he started the Tour de Suisse, completing all five stages before finishing fifth at the Belgian road championships on June 28. That brought his 2026 road total to just seven race days before the Vuelta. “It’s a year I’d like to forget as quickly as possible,” Nys told JOE. “But I hope I can still turn it around in the Vuelta.” After the Belgian championships, the Vuelta became the main target. Nys spent part of July training in Spain, rebuilding the endurance required for a three week race. Then toxoplasmosis interrupted that process. At one point, Nys and his coach Paul Van Den Bosch had effectively given up on the idea of making the start. “It didn’t look good for a long time,” Nys said. “My coach and I had basically already given up on it, and then suddenly things turned around.” His condition improved enough for the pair to make the final decision on Friday. Nys will now start the Vuelta on Saturday, August 22, his second Grand Tour after his Tour de France debut in 2025. Expectations are hard to gauge. Seven race days is far from ideal preparation for a three week Grand Tour, especially after illness disrupted the final weeks of his build up. But Nys is no longer talking simply about making it through the race. “I feel ready,” he said. “We’ve gone from having so many doubts to feeling like there might actually be something possible.” After surgery in the spring, months of rebuilding and an infection that threatened his Vuelta start, Nys now arrives in Spain with a chance to salvage something from a difficult season. Join our WhatsApp service Be first to know. Subscribe to Domestique on WhatsApp for free and stay up to date with all the latest from the world of cycling.