Tim Wellens prefers UAE over Ineos: “Want to continue driving for own account” | cycling

In 2013, the then Lotto-Belisol brought the talented Tim Wellens on board. The good results were not long in coming. Wellens quickly worked his way up as one of the strongholds within the team.

Wellens wrote the Tour of Poland, the Brabantse Pijl and the GP Montréal on his honors list, but in recent years the good results have been lacking.

“I had to think about a departure for a long time,” says Wellens, who is currently active in the Tour de Ain. “I’m good at Lotto and I agree with everyone, but lately the results have been lacking. I felt I had to try something new.”

Wellens eventually opted for an employment contract with UAE Team Emirates, the team of 2-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar: “There were several options on the table, but the possibility to make progress was very important to me.”

“In the end it went between Ineos – Grenadiers and Team UAE. At UAE I have the feeling that I will have more opportunity to drive for myself now and then. That would have been less the case with Ineos anyway.”

In the Ardennes classics, Tim Wellens was able to take his chance in recent years, but with Tadej Pogacar, Davide Formolo and Joao Almeida, among others, he gets a lot of teammates who can also make those matches a goal.

“It really doesn’t deter me to have to act as a servant”, Wellens continues. “I’m really looking forward to that new role. It’s completely different, but I think it should suit me.”

“In some competitions I hope to be able to drive at my own expense. We also discussed that during the contract negotiations. I will certainly get my chances.”

In the coming months, Wellens will still be wearing the Lotto-Soudal shirt: “I want to say goodbye in any case with hopefully another victory. I will do everything I can to end this period in the right way.”