Racing with Pogacar and UAE sometimes feels like you're on a Playstation: "It felt so easy, we did what we wanted"

Tim Wellens in a UAE Team Emirates shirt - it still looks a bit odd. The man who for years embodied the red and white of Lotto has, in the space of a year, transformed into an important part of the UAE machine. After an excellent debut season, Wellens wants to take another step forward in 2024, in the servance of Tadej Pogacar as well as his own interests. IDLProCycling.com sat down with him for a chat.

Wellens was always a free agent at Lotto-Soudal, strong in the early weeks of the season and often in the fall as well. He accumulated 32 victories through 2021, including stage wins in the Giro d'Italia (2016 and 2018) and the Vuelta a España (two in 2020), and a string of stage victories in week-long stage races. That style was abandoned upon switching teams. At UAE-Team Emirates, as Wellens told this website a year ago, he wanted to improve with different training and a different program.

That didn't serve him badly at all in his first year with UAE. Third in Jaén Paraiso Interior, stage victory in Ruta del Sol, fifth in Kuurne, and impressive leadout work for Pogacar. A crash in the Tour of Flanders prevented him from participating in the Tour de France, but after breaking his collarbone, Wellens returned to grab the overall win in the Renewi Tour and a top five in the Gree-Tour of Guangxi. So much for the preamble, on to the conversation...

You're in the Tour de France selection, Tim!

"Yes, hopefully."

Well, at least you're among the eight names... When you saw the other seven, did you pinch yourself?

"It's an impressive group, yes. They're sending everything they have to the Tour, I think. But the Tour is still far away. It's on my schedule, but of course, everything needs to go well leading up to it. I'm looking forward to being in such a strong selection."

But how big of a compliment is it that they say: we're writing down this name, that name, and Tim Wellens too?

"Obviously, it's a great honor, but my ambitions are higher than just being selected as part of a prestigious group. I hope I can do my job very well for the team."

Your first half of 2023, I think you must have been very satisfied with that?

"Correct, and the second half as well. I just had some misfortune in the middle of the year after that crash."

Looking back now, also as we head into 2024, you've shown what you can do and you've clearly taken a step forward. What's going on in your mind now?

"I'm much more comfortable now, of course. I know everyone in the team, I have spent a year with them... Last year, I didn't know how everything would go. I had a new coach and wasn't sure if I'd like it. But it was a great introduction, where we won a lot as a team. The training sessions went well, and I was very pleased with my level. It's a pity that I crashed in the Tour of Flanders and broke my collarbone in two places. That was the only downside of 2023, but aside from that there are many highlights."

A year ago, we were sitting here chatting about your new training approach. A lot of zone two work. Is that still the same, or are you doing something different at UAE?

"I can't say too much about what we do, but it's a lot like last year. I'm satisfied with that, and mentally, it's also very easy to train as we do here. In other teams, they do a lot of full-on training, which we do less here. There are days when I have to cycle very hard, of course, but I've been pleasantly surprised."

Now that Pogacar will not be racing in Flanders, does that automatically make Flanders a main goal on your calendar?

"Indeed, that will be a very important race for me, and for the team. Without Tadej, the pressure shifts to other riders. If I had to choose, I'd prefer to race with Pogacar, even in the Tour of Flanders. But it's also an opportunity that presents itself."

What races are you going to participate in leading up to the spring classics and the Tour?

"I start in Murcia, then Jaén and Ruta del Sol. The same as last year, only I started in Mallorca then. We're not doing that now. I'll also ride the Opening Weekend, Strade Bianche, Milan-Sanremo and then the Flemish classics, with Paris-Roubaix as the last one."

Sjoerd Bax won't be ready in time for the spring season due to his broken hip. Who else, besides yourself, do you see as leaders of the UAE classic core?

"The team has signed Nils Politt, and I consider him an equal. That's easy to say now, of course, but if Nils shows he's one of the world's best in the Opening Weekend, he'll become the team leader. That's something you can control though: if you show you're good, you're automatically the leader. And perhaps some new guys will step up, those who got fewer chances last year but have grown stronger and more experienced. We'll have to wait and see."

What do you think, as a fan of the Giro-Tour combo, about Pogacar and the fact that he wants to win both?

"I think it makes sense. Wherever Tadej starts, he races to win. That's not surprising, but it's great that he's trying something new and constantly looking to expand his palmares. Hats off to him."

How was your first year with Pogacar on the team?

"It's been a really fun experience. The way people outside the team see him is exactly how he is. He seems very playful, but he can distinguish very well between when it's time to train and when it's time to have some laughs. He's very professional. But what strikes me most is how grounded he remains. There are very few other riders who would remain so down to earth if they were riding as well as he is. He behaves just like everyone else, without any ego. I think that's really impressive."

So when we see Pogacar going straight to Vingegaard to congratulate him after a tough blow in the Tour, that's genuine?

"Exactly, he doesn't do it because someone told him to. He's genuinely like that, I can confirm that."

Do you look at Visma | Lease a Bike at all? It doesn't seem to dominate the conversation here on this media day...

"No, not really. I think they know very well what they are doing here. Of course, we look at other teams. It's normal and professional to see what others are doing. But we mainly focus on our own strength."

Do you feel that in the upcoming Tour de France, things might be the other way around, with your team going up against a Visma without Van Aert and Roglic?

"That's hard to say. I'm not the guy who is in charge of the tactics, and I don't know what's happening at Visma | Lease a Bike. It's a fact that our Tour team is very strong."

What will be your role there?

"I'm not the guy who's going to lead Tadej up the cols and set him up 200 meters from the finish. I won't be the first rider to start riding, but looking at the selection, I might have to be the second, haha! Ultimately, it's very nice to have on your palmares that you were part of a team that won the Tour de France. If that means I have to lead from kilometer 0 to 150, then I'll gladly do that."

How much room for improvement do you think you still have?

"We'll see if I can take another step forward, but I'm also very satisfied with the level I reached in 2023. It surprised me how enjoyable it is to race with such strong teammates. In last year's Ruta del Sol, we discussed a tactic before the race, and then it just happened during the race. It felt so easy, we did what we wanted. That was the same in Paris-Nice, the most fun race I've done."

A bit like playing on a Playstation, something that many cyclists often deny...

"Yes, in those races it was. Of course, it can't always be like that, but when it does work out, that's a really nice way to race."

Where do you think you'll have an opportunity to chase your own success in such a team in 2024?

"Well, the Flemish classics. And like I said: if I can do a few races where I'm important to the team, then I'll be very satisfied."

And a role as a road captain, are you gradually moving towards that?

"I think experience is becoming less important. Those young guys already live like professional cyclists when they're at the U23 level, focusing on diet, training, etc. So the experience isn't as big of a factor anymore. But sometimes it's the little things, knowing how to race. Being attentive from the very first kilometer and letting the right people ride in the right position. Not staying in the middle of the road when you're going into corners in the finale, but cutting them off. Simple things like that, that you sometimes have to point out to others."

Last question, about Juan Ayuso. You've never really raced with him. What is he like?

"I haven't spent much time with him, but I know there's a lot of pressure on his shoulders from Spain. That's not easy at such a young age. It could make him more nervous than others, but I would need to race with him first to really say. He's a friendly guy, he likes cars, and during training camps he's more nervous than Tadej. Tadej is much more playful and relaxed."

So, in that respect, does Pogacar also uniquely have the character to do what he wants to do in 2024? Or do you see others?

"Among the actual grand tour winners, I think there are very few."