Since then, the sympathetic Limburg punker has no longer run. He will find the peloton this Wednesday, on the Renewi Tour (before the Grand Prix of Plouay and the Classics of Canada). A race he loves, of which he is the outgoing winner but also the record holder with four successes in the final ranking (and as many stages victories).
Tim, how are you before what we might call the… Wellens Tour?
“Ha Ha … I would like to win it again, that is certain. But I did not have the ideal preparation. I suffered from a flu one week after the Tour de France. I don’t want to pretend not to be good, but I took a while to get back. I had a few days of fever and then had the impression of being tired for a long time. My training was therefore not like I was.
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This flu is the reason why you no longer run after the Tour, when you had played the Tour de Poland for example in the wake of the Great Loop last year?
“No, it was already the plan established at the start of the season. Within our team, in the wake of the Tour, there is no obligation to go shopping. The Clasica San Sebastian or Poland : They are the runners to choose and I had already been fixed before I would not do them this year. “
There is a change in the course of this edition of the Renewi Tour, since there is no more time trial on the five stages. We image that this is not good news for you …
“No, indeed. The first handicap concerning me compared to this test had already been introduced with the abolition of the stage in the Belgian Ardennes. And now, there is no longer this time, which could get me, yes. On the Renewi Tour, every second account. The differences are often tight and this will be even more the case on this edition, without this counter-montre. Green.”
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After two steps for the sprinters this Wednesday (in Breskens, the Netherlands) and Thursday in Ardooie, there will be the stage in Grammont, on Friday, which can be decisive. Just like the last two stages, which are still annoyed.
“The stage of Saturday, towards Bilzen, it should still go. For me, the general classification will be played on that of Grammont and Louvain, on Sunday. In Grammont, it is always a hard step, even if it is not easy to make a big difference. Louvain, I know less even if I have already played the Grand Prix Scherens in the past. There will probably not be a sprint with a peloton of a hundred runners …”
As a favorite? Van der poel. But also to Arnaud de Lie. During the Tour de France, he was already talking about Renewi.
In this context, who do you point as a favorite?
“I think directly of Arnaud de Lie. During the Tour de France, he was already talking about the Renewi Tour. And when we know that after the Tour de France, it is the mind that plays a lot, I think he will be a solid opponent! Especially since he seems to have the legs as we saw on Sunday, with his second place to the classic Hamburg. The absence of time trial will be an advantage for him. And you know like me that it can be very fast in this area … Besides Arnaud de Lie, I also think of Mathieu Van der Poel as a favorite.
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