Chairman of the cyclists’ union angry that Wout Poels barely came into the picture: ‘He deserves more than those 2 seconds’ | Tour de France

“This makes me sad,” writes CPA chairman Adam Hansen, who himself rode the Tour de France eight times. ‘Wout Poels is experiencing one of the best moments in his career. He wins a Tour stage, an almost impossible task. Then I would really appreciate it if the winner gets more than 2 seconds of TV time. So that he can later show his son what he has achieved. The boys in the general classification are shown every day. So give these riders what they deserve.’ The tweet is addressed to the organization of the Tour and to French television.

Poels rode away from his fellow escapees at the foot of the final climb on Sunday and started an impressive solo. Because he was only further ahead of pursuer Wout van Aert, the director decided to switch to the lone leader only sporadically and mainly to wait for a possible attack from Vingegaard or Pogacar. However, the two candidates for the overall victory kept their powder dry and crossed the finish line side by side.

Poels was already in for more than 6 minutes, although only the attentive TV viewer was aware of that. “And we’re not even sure whether they portrayed Wout live or thought half a minute later: ‘that also has to be done’, said Tom Dumoulin on Sunday at The Evening Stage. The former Giro winner also pointed out that Frenchman Mathieu Burgaudeau, who finished third, was getting more attention.

The main character himself did not let his joy be spoiled by a lack of airtime. “I really don’t give a shit,” he laughed. “This is forever in my name. They must have the photos, right?”

Wout Poels talks in detail about the day that changed his life a bit in our podcast.‘

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