Wout Poels missed out on the Giro, but now summoned to ride the tour: "If I go to the Tour, it doesn't matter much, does it?"

No Giro d'Italia, but likely the Tour de France: that pretty much sums up 2024 so far for Wout Poels. The Dutchman from North Limburg was set on a different kind of feat during this year's Giro, after his stage victories in last year's Tour and Vuelta, but his team instead instructed him to focus on the Tour. Without resentment, the affable Dutchman prepares for the most important race of the year.

In an interview with IDLProCycling.com during the Tour of Switzerland, which remains a special race for his team Bahrain Victorious, Poels spoke about the event. Gino Mäder, Poels' teammate and friend, tragically lost his life last year during a descent in this race. Consequently, the 2024 edition partly commemorated Mäder.

On behalf of Bahrain Victorious, newcomer Torstein Traeen made a touching tribute to Mäder by winning the stage ending at the Gotthard Pass during the fourth leg of the race. "It's nice for our team, but for Torstein, it was perhaps a bit strange in a way. He was never on the team with Gino, but now he's somewhat involved. It was very beautiful that he could do this during the Tour of Switzerland," Poels commented, always having kind words for his late teammate.

Continue reading below the photo.

Earlier this year, Poels also spoke about his relationship with Traeen in his podcast In Koers, a sentiment he reiterated now. "Torstein is a guy I get along very well with. We're not sharing a room right now, but it was beautiful to see how he won. He might be a late bloomer. He’s about 27 now. That’s not too old, though. He's definitely a strong guy, but also very nice.”

At that moment, Traeen, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2022 following a doping test, joined with a big smile. "He was just asking about you," Poels said to him. "About what? My one ball?" Traeen joked. "No, kidding. Wout is a great guy. I love making coffee for him," added Poels' teammate before boarding the bus.

Poels quickly set sights on Tour after not being selected for Giro

For those who ever doubted it: the atmosphere at Bahrain Victorious is fine. Even after the (at least for the outside world) rather striking choice not to take Poels to the Giro. "If I go to the Tour now, it doesn’t matter much, right? I had set a nice goal for myself to win a stage, but well: trying for a new stage in the Tour is also fun," Poels remains optimistic.

That’s just how things are in the world of cycling. The seasoned Poels knows this by now. "Look, I always had the Tour in mind. Sometimes the team makes certain choices. Of course, I was very disappointed because I would have liked to go. But they wanted a slightly younger team in the Giro, and eventually, they did really well with Antonio Tiberi's white jersey and fifth place," he compliments his teammates.

Continue reading below the photo.

To what extent, then, is the Tour a certainty? "It’s not completely certain yet, but I guess about eighty percent. If I don’t go, it would be quite a letdown," Poels said. "I assume I will. I feel good, and I’m getting better every day. After the Giro, I had to reshuffle my plans, which I did through the Tour of Hungary. Then I took some rest, and after two and a half weeks of training, I went to Switzerland. It’s not top-notch yet, but it's improving steadily," Poels noted. He finished sixteenth overall.

The 36-year-old Dutchman knows his place and role in case of a potential Tour de France appearance. "If I go, it will be in the same capacity as last year. We also have Santiago Buitrago, Pello Bilbao and Jack Haig. Helping the team and maybe going for a stage win, that will be my job. Santiago performed well last year, but he has also stepped up. For instance, he did very well in Paris-Nice, but just had some bad luck with a fall. I’m curious to see how he'll do now," says Poels.

Finally, a question arose: Bahrain Victorious won three stages in last year’s Tour, two of which (Pello Bilbao and Matej Mohoric) were highlighted in the recently released second season of the Netflix series about the Tour. Which had us wondering: what happened to the Dutchman’s victory? "I think they follow some teams very closely, but we weren't really among them. But why they didn’t include my win, I don’t know," Poels answered with a smile, indicating he wasn't too interested in becoming or being a Netflix star. If all goes well, he'll get another shot at giving it his all in a week and a half...