Wout Poels has to postpone hunt for trilogy: climber passed over for Giro | Cycling

The 36-year-old Poels won a stage in the Tour de France and Vuelta a España last year and wanted to complete the special triptych in the Giro d’Italia. However, his team opts for different courses, even though the Limburger recently showed his form in the Tour of the Alps.

“The team would prefer that I prepare for other important races later this year,” Poels told the newspaper on Monday A.D. “Unfortunately, but that is also part of professional sport. Perhaps the Giro will fit better into my program in the coming years.”

Poels is Bahrain’s first reservation rider for the Giro. “So if something unexpected happens to the other riders, I am ready to step in. It is still a long season and hopefully I can go for the Tour.”

For the time being, seven Dutch riders are certain of participating in the Giro: Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers), Danny van Poppel (BORA-hansgrohe), Daan Hoole (Lildl-Trek), Fabio Jakobsen, Bram Welten, Gijs Leemreize and Julius van den Berg ( all dsm-firmenich Post.nl).

The final Giro selections will be announced in the coming days. Tadej Pogacar is a huge favorite for the overall victory in the first round of the year. On paper, Geraint Thomas seems to be the biggest challenger to the two-time winner of the Tour de France.