5 names, as many questions: Intermarché-Wanty mainly 'flexible' towards Tour de France sprints

Intermarché-Wanty has yet to win a stage in the Tour de France in multiple participations, and as far as the Belgian team is concerned, they are keen on changing that quickly. For the upcoming edition, the team is counting on the fast men for day successes, drawing towards the starting point in Florence with what appears to be a strong team on paper. IDLProCycling.com brought up the matter to coach Adriaan Helmantel and the most experienced rider of the group, Mike Teunissen.

Who forms the sprint train of Intermarché-Wanty in the Tour de France?

Intermarché-Wanty is, tentatively, heading towards the Tour de France with a sprint train consisting of five men. Gerben Thijssen and Biniam Girmay are designated as the main finishers on paper, while Mike Teunissen, Laurenz Rex, and Hugo Page are responsible for launching these men in good position on their respective days.

Helmantel emphasizes that the team wants to work 'flexibly' with these men. "We are aware that the ideal setup on paper and the reality in the Tour de France are two different things. We are primarily working towards, drawing from the experience Aike Visbeek and I gained from our time at Sunweb, that the roles are subordinate to anticipating situations," he explains.

"The chance of the ideal situation occurring is very small. With Mike, Laurenz, Hugo, and also Bini, we have four men who can essentially be the last man, so we can change positions a lot. It all comes down to communication. The goal is not, for example, to do the lead-out with Mike; the goal is to be the first across the finish line. If that means that we have to burn out three men four kilometers from the finish just to get into position, which is possible in the Tour, then so be it," he concludes realistically.

5 years after Brussels: what is Mike Teunissen's role in all of this?

July 6, 2019, is a day Teunissen won't soon forget: back then, he surprisingly grabbed the stage win - and thus the yellow jersey - in the Tour of that year in Brussels. Five years later, at the age of 31, he embarks on his fifth Tour de France, knowing what his task is for Intermarché-Wanty. "My role is the same as always, in the lead-out. And then it's a matter of assessing for each stage whether it will be for Gerben or Bini, but it's very difficult to agree on that beforehand."

"Bini naturally had a learning year in the Tour last year, and that may now also be the case for Gerben," the man from Ysselsteyn is aware of the Tour factor. "We shouldn't underestimate that, the mass sprints in the Tour are still somewhat different. So, we'll have to see how it goes. For Gerben, it's a bit of an exploration, but it's the same for Laurenz Rex and Hugo Page, actually. And by extension, the entire sprint train," he refers to the three debutants out of the five. "Bini now has the experience from last year and is also showing good form, so that is encouraging. Hopefully, he can carry that towards the Tour."

"Mike has a ton of experience," Helmantel elaborates on the role of the Dutchman. "He reads the race well, and that is very valuable. If as a sprinter, you have confidence in your lead-out, then you should focus on that wheel instead of overseeing everything yourself. For example, Tom Veelers was important for Marcel Kittel; he really had that trust in Tom. Sometimes it went wrong, but more often than not, it went right. That's how you build trust, and that allows you as a sprinter to focus on a sprint."

In what way can the Limburger then impart his experience to Thijssen, Rex, and Page? "Mike can bring and convey calmness, also towards the other guys. He has the patience to wait for the gap that arises in a sprint, as he also showed in Tirreno-Adriatico and more recently."

How did the preparation for the Tour go so far?

It's been a bit stop-and-go, we could say. Intermarché-Wanty started the year well but saw all three designated sprinters sidelined within one week. Girmay was involved in the heavy crash during Dwars door Vlaanderen, while Thijssen and Arne Marit both broke their ankles in a silly crash in the same race one week later.

As a result, Thijssen missed the Giro and was transferred to the Tour, while Girmay, as the absolute leader, quickly dropped out of the Giro d'Italia. "Things got a bit messed up, but then it's important to remain calm," says Helmantel. "In recent weeks, we've regained some momentum and now we have to have confidence that it will continue. In the Tour, that can lead to something beautiful."

Teunissen and company have also had their share of bad luck. "I got sick during the altitude training camp, so I'm not as good as I wanted to be. A few of us were bedridden for five days with stomach flu. I'm not sure what the exact consequence of that will be. When I came back, I wasn't at my best, but now I'm getting better and better. Hopefully, it will continue like this for as long as possible, and we can put the finishing touches on these races towards the National Championships and then the Tour," the Limburger said in the ZLM Tour.

Although the team achieved some good placements and won the ZLM Tour, Thijssen didn't secure a victory in the Dutch stage race. A new opportunity awaits in the Baloise Belgium Tour. Teunissen also didn't feel top-notch after the altitude training camp in Andorra, although the TV footage suggested otherwise. "In Cologne, 25 men broke away, but I wasn't among them. The fact that I eventually did a good lead-out for TV was nice... that's the most important thing, haha," said the Dutchman honestly, who ultimately did crucial work for Rune Herregodts in the Dutch stage race.

What is the distribution for sprinters Intermaché-Wanty in the Tour?

The ambition is clear, but with whom and how? "The ultimate goal is to win a sprint. If it's a bit tougher, Bini tends to excel. But if it's a pure sprint, it's Gerben's qualities that fit in. But yeah, in the chaos, it could also happen that it's Bini's day in a flat sprint. We've also had meetings about that, that we need to be flexible in that way," explains Helmantel.

"The sprints where they go one by one from the line and the sprinter can sprint straight to the finish are rare. Even a Kooij or Milan hasn't often had that in, for example, the Giro, which also applies to Merlier. He also wins from the chaos. We're working on that, and every sprint is different. If it goes well once, it's also no guarantee for the sprints that follow," Helmantel knows from experience.

"We believe that Gerben can beat everyone in a fast mass sprint," he says confidently. "He won't win nine out of ten sprints, but we do believe that he can beat everyone on a good day."

What is there left to fine-tune towards the Tour?

What stands out with the group of five heading towards the Tour is that they never raced together as a complete unit towards the Tour de France. Teunissen raced alongside Thijssen for the first time in the ZLM Tour, while the other guys were also deployed in different races. A logical explanation for this is the pursuit of points, which is also relevant for Intermarché-Wanty. But also the crashes, the budget of Intermarché-Wanty, and for example, Girmay's place of residence contribute to this.

Thijssen is a similar type of sprinter to Dylan Groenewegen, the man Teunissen achieved many successes with. "Back then, I was really paired with Dylan, and we always worked together with Amund Grondahl Jansen, myself, and Dylan. Now it's a bit trickier because there's more rotation, so it's also harder to synchronize with each other. Normally, I wouldn't have done many races with Gerben, so it's a bit of a search."

"The advantage is that we all have some experience, but it's still a bit of a search for automatism. If you work together more often, then maybe it becomes a bit easier," he says. Helmantel emphasizes that communication will certainly be important in that regard. "Our sprinter needs to be in position when the sprint starts. Ideally with a few guys ahead of him, of course, but otherwise just in someone else's wheel. We're working on that, knowing how to anticipate and communicate. We started that in the winter, so we don't get stuck if we lose someone," concludes the coach.

Being flexible and maintaining good communication in the chaos that the Tour de France brings forth is the challenge for Teunissen and company. "With the ultimate goal of winning a stage," Helmantel repeats. "With Thijssen, but it could just as well be with Bini or one of the other guys."