Schelling had high hopes before the Dauphiné but ultimately chose to withdraw from the Tour de France himself

IDLProCycling.com is on-site at the Dauphiné and, before the start of the opening stage, engages in a conversation with the now 26-year-old Schelling alongside Algemeen Dagblad. In early April, he did not start the fourth stage of the Tour of Catalonia, followed by a long period without racing. A virus similar to mononucleosis was the underlying cause, he explained in the Auvergne. "It just sucked in the beginning. There was clearly something wrong. Very quickly, I felt it wasn't as it should be. You can’t do much when you get tired almost instantly. Your body automatically tells you to rest. Then you have to listen to it. I'm not stupid," Schelling said in his characteristically straightforward manner.

"So going to the training camp was a bit of a leap of faith," Schelling admitted honestly. "And also because a few days before the camp, things started to get better. Thankfully, that trend continued during the camp, and I was able to complete my training as planned. Those were three good weeks. At one point, we had fourteen people there, so it was quite busy. Most of the guys speak Russian and I don't speak a word of it. To me, it's just incomprehensible babble, haha!"

All's well that ends well. That was a fair conclusion at the start of the preparatory race for the Tour de France. Schelling hoped to make a strong showing in the Dauphiné to secure the last spot on Astana's team for La Grande Boucle. "I hope to go to the Tour, but after the past few months, it's not a given. The eighth spot on our team is still open, and I'm in contention for it. So, it's a classic Dauphiné where I need to prove myself. If I don't perform well, there are plenty of other great races to compete in. But the Tour is the Tour, and it's the pinnacle of cycling. I only have fond memories of it. And the team is going with a legendary man aiming for record victories," he mentioned, referring to Mark 'Manx Missile' Cavendish. "Being part of that would be very special."

In the end, we only saw Schelling on screen a few times in the Dauphiné, a race that was marred by the now infamous horrific crash. "I didn't see it happen," explained the Dutch rider—who also did not finish the Dauphiné—in the Eurosport podcast. "I had already crashed before that, due to a Lotto-Dstny rider who wasn't paying attention and braked sharply on a slippery section. I slid out and crashed over his rear wheel. It was just bad luck, but maybe also a stroke of luck in the end. I got away without much harm. That meant I wasn't involved in the second and much larger crash. Because what the hell was that!"

"I've never seen anything like it," Schelling elaborated on the crash. "In some videos, you see guys sliding across the asphalt at sixty kilometers per hour. It was really unprecedented. It genuinely looked like ice. When I got there, I saw a huge mess. I actually didn't want to ride through it because I didn't want to see it all. Guys groaning in the grass and stuff. Those are not pleasant sights for a fellow professional. I myself tapped my rear brake at five kilometers per hour and even then you would slip. So, it's no wonder they went down."

Finally, the ever-smiling fan favorite also analyzed his own performance in the French race. "The Dauphiné ultimately became very tough for me. I was completely drained. I couldn't pedal more than 280 watts. That quickly results in being dropped from the last groups of the peloton, or even from the grupetto. In the final stage, I had to get into the car, which was really disappointing. Of course, the virus had a lot to do with it. But at my last three major stage races (Catalonia, the Basque Country, and the Dauphiné), there's a DNF or DNS next to my name each time. That's not something you’re happy about. The Tour is obviously not happening for me, even if I had any chance. I had to cancel it myself, though it was certainly not a guarantee that I was going."

In short, no Tour de France for the man who wore the polka dot jersey for a day in 2021. "There's a nice alternative, as the team is participating in the Tour of Qinghai Lake in China," said an optimistic Schelling. "So, I've rented an altitude tent. It's arriving this week. Everything there is apparently happening from 2,000 meters altitude, sometimes even up to 4,000 meters! I'm really curious to see what that will bring. Only two WorldTour teams are participating, so it's definitely a lower level. I'm excited to see how I’ll enjoy racing in Asia."