"Annoying" Wellens frustrates Healy; Bilbao: "You’re better off not worrying about that"

The podium of Strade Bianche on Saturday consisted of Tadej Pogacar, Tom Pidcock, and Tim Wellens. The latter was able to capitalize on the fact that his UAE Emirates-XRG team leader was up front, allowing him to sit comfortably in the chasing group. Understandably, not everyone in that group was thrilled about it.

Ben Healy finished in fourth place and naturally would have liked to take that third spot from Wellens. "It was insanely tough; I was pushing power on the pedals all day. But I raced smarter than last year and managed to get a result, so that's good," the EF Education-EasyPost rider told Eurosport.

"I didn’t have the acceleration of Pogacar and Pidcock. At that moment, I was at my limit, and you see it often: when someone tries to follow Tadej, the race is basically over at that point," he explained. "I tried to play it smart in the group behind, but unfortunately, Wellens was strong enough to just sit in the wheels. That was quite annoying, but I still got the best result I could. And I'm happy with that."

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Bilbao: "You’re better off not worrying about that"

Pello Bilbao found himself in the same boat, ultimately finishing fifth. "It was a wild ride, but I enjoyed it. Over the full 213 kilometers, the race was super intense, where you constantly had to fight for your position. I think I had to put my foot down three or four times to avoid crashes, but I managed to come back each time."

"I didn’t give up and kept telling myself that it’s a long race where you have to play it smart," said the Bahrain Victorious rider. "I gambled on the right groups with good cooperation, and that worked out well. I couldn’t follow Tadej and Tom, but I managed to form a strong group behind them. I ended up riding for a long time with Roger Adrià."

"We saw Tim Wellens' move coming, but it’s better not to stress about that. In that situation, you just have to push yourself because he’s racing his own race. The moment it was clear that they had secured the victory, it was obvious that Tim would try something," he concluded.

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