"Everyone trains the same": How Decathlon AG2R, with Van Rysel as a gem and Bennett/Gall as leaders, aims to make a difference in the Tour

In a three-star hotel located in Auvergne, the 33-year-old Naesen takes all the time in the world to discuss the ins and outs of the cycling world, starting with his own level. He's certainly pleased with it, especially after a few slightly less fruitful years. "Things are going well for me, even outside of cycling. Life is beautiful, isn't it? I've had a second child, so that's a bit tiring. But otherwise, everything is fine with me. I'm also definitely satisfied with the spring season. I would have signed up for that, considering that I've been on a bit of a downward curve in recent years. That's undeniable."

"This year was indeed good again," Ollie continued. "Occasionally, I had a result that I felt didn't quite represent how I felt during the race. So, it could have been better at times, although you also have to be content with what you get. I only discovered this year that I had been suffering from a celery allergy for a long time. It's now somewhat of a joke in the peloton, but it genuinely cost me a lot of energy. Sometimes I did everything perfectly: eating healthily, training a lot, and going to bed on time. And then I would still wake up completely exhausted. You really think, what the fuck?! So, I went searching for the cause for a long time, and suddenly there it was, the answer. A celery allergy. My health tracker would occasionally indicate that something was seriously wrong with me at totally inexplicable moments. As if I had drunk twenty pints the day before. And that wasn't necessarily the case!", the experienced Flemish rider explains with a smile.

It's understandable that Naesen was more than happy to identify that issue. "I feel tip-top and fit again, so that's the most important thing. It was solved overnight. Fortunately. At Decathlon AG2R, we didn't recruit anyone for the classics last winter, so I was still somewhat the focal point. And then it's nice when you can achieve some results," he refers to, among others, his seventh place in the Tour of Flanders.

After his last classic, Eschborn Frankfurt (on May 1st), Naesen didn't go to altitude. He had an alternative for that. Additionally, he participated in the Four Days of Dunkirk, Gullegem Koerse, and thus the Critérium du Dauphiné. "I have an altitude chamber at home, so I completed my kind of stage there," he explains. "It suits me well, but of course, it's not comparable to Sierra Nevada. But sometimes you just have to play with the cards life deals you. I now have a second child, so it's not easy to go away from home for longer and more frequently. So, it's definitely a good alternative for me. I also rode the Four Days of Dunkirk. That went very well, considering Sam's (Bennett, ed.) many victories. Altitude is important, but not everything. It's also an important detail that I'm not a GC rider."

It's clear: Naesen, with all his experience, is someone who knows the ins and outs of the sport. However, in the Four Days of Dunkirk, as he mentioned earlier, we surprisingly saw the West Flemish rider in what appeared to be a new role, as he acted as a lead-out man for the successful Bennett. "Providing lead-outs was very enjoyable and really cool. I hadn't done it often before," confirms Naesen. "For that, I have to go back to my time as a neo-pro, when I did it for Edward Theuns. But that's obviously at a completely different level. In Dunkirk, it went very well, very fluidly. But it's also clear to us. We're not an Alessandro Petacchi train that just strings everyone along. I've also done some sprints myself in the past, so based on those experiences, I know how a sprinter wants to come to the finish line. And that's mainly fresh. With that in mind, I now handle the preparation."

"The most important thing is actually reaching the right position in the most efficient way," he describes his approach. "That's more the work I'll do, rather than really getting to the front of the peloton at 300 to 400 meters from the finish. Working with Sam is certainly easy. We clicked very well right away. He's obviously a top sprinter with a lot of experience. He quickly explained what he likes and doesn't like and what he looks for in a teammate. That made it easy for me too. We're also about the same age and we've been around in the pro peloton for about the same time, so by now, we understand the game a bit. I often room with Sam, so that also creates a bond. He's a very relaxed guy."

In the Tour de France, Naesen will normally have the same role within Team Bennett. "On the other hand, I'll also support Felix (Gall) as a GC rider," he adds. "So, my role is clear and straightforward. In terms of training, not much had changed for me either. We also have really ambitious goals in the Tour now. That's good for morale and mentally. You never ride around aimlessly. For example, if you don't have a climber, you often end up riding more towards the back, basically waiting to get shot down, haha! And the same goes for sprint stages. If you don't have a sprinter and you still want to be up front, you end up riding in the way of teams that do have a sprinter. Now we have a serious leader in both areas, so we can really do something. I'm looking forward to that."

Bennett, who made the switch from BORA-hansgrohe to the French team last year, seems - given his string of victories - somewhat rejuvenated. How far can he go in a Tour de France sprint then? "It's hard to say how far Sam can go. We still have to encounter the Jasper Philipsens of this world," says Naesen. "And a sprint in the Tour is different from any other sprint. It's not normal. In the Tour, the peloton moves like a block, something that may look boring on television. Everyone protects their position, and it doesn't move forward. But our hearts are really pounding then, it's bizarre. It goes incredibly fast. Suddenly, everything gets strung out, and the speed is unprecedented. It can't be compared to any other race, not even a Giro d'Italia or Vuelta a España."

This brings us to the plan for Gall. The Austrian surprised friend and foe last year by winning a stage in the Tour, but also by frequently being able to keep up with top contenders like Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar. "Felix is really something special, you know. It's difficult to categorize him," Naesen explains with a wink. "Last year, he finished eighth in the overall classification, with that stage win and many other impressive performances. That was quite remarkable. Of course, we knew he was a good climber, but he could have been a one-hit wonder. However, that was not the case at all. When you win the queen stage, it's not just luck. In the last mountain stage, he was the only one able to stay with Tadej and Jonas. And then he even attacked them, haha! That was exceptionally strong."

"If he can reach that level again, you'd say he could achieve a top five finish," Naesen continues, bridging the conversation to La Grande Boucle. "But because he achieved that last year, it's not his immediate baseline. Dreaming of a top five finish is certainly allowed. That's not unrealistic either. However, we have to keep in mind that his preparation has been slightly disrupted by a knee injury. That's why he skipped the Dauphiné and is racing in Switzerland instead. But that's not a problem for him because he gained a lot of morale there last year with a stage win."

After Bennett and Gall have been thoroughly discussed, of course, any potential success of Naesen himself must also be addressed. The Belgian provides the answer through a short but poignant anecdote. "In recent years, I've often been asked: Ollie, if the opportunity arises in a transition stage, can we expect you? Usually, a rider like me gets his chances in the stages when you've already pedaled quite a bit, after you've fulfilled your supportive role for days or weeks. Then it's not always there in the legs, I must admit. But take last year, for example. There were three transition stages, and I was in all three. One time Matej Mohoric won, the other two times we were in a group of fifty guys, including Jonas and Pogi. There you are. I can tell you, that doesn't make you happy! In all three stages, I was there, and for my modest level, it went perfectly, but that dream is shattered right away. It's really crazy..."

We definitely ended on a positive note. That's necessary when you're talking to someone from a team in monster form. "It's really crazy," Naesen begins with a laugh in his explanation for the many successes. "I've probably said it a hundred times already, and the record is long since worn out, but I still come back to our new bikes. When I tested them, I immediately said that it had to translate into good results. It almost couldn't be any other way. Putting a number on it was difficult because we don't have a superstar of Pogacar's caliber, who shoots out one victory after another. But still, the tally is rising nicely. Benoît (Cosnefroy) and Sam both have more than five, and those numbers are slowly becoming big boy numbers. That really weighs heavily, especially when you also count those two Giro stage wins. You arrive at the start of a race so much more relaxed when you know you're going to be competitive."

"In today's peloton, everyone trains almost the same. Everyone also eats almost the same," Naesen adds, giving his explanation more substance. "When I asked someone recently who hadn't been to the Sierra Nevada, they only mentioned two teams. The rest were somewhere in France or elsewhere at altitude. So everyone approaches it the same way, you know. It's the technical aspects where you can make a difference. The fabric of the bike, the wheels, the tires, and those kinds of things. Nowadays, it might not be sexy, but I think it makes a big difference."