For the first time in thirteen years, Bauke Mollema will not be admired in the Tour de France. The 36-year-old from Groningen was told two days ago that his Trek-Segafredo team has not selected him for the annual cycling spectacle.
Bauke Mollema shared that news on Thursday evening during the theater show In The Wheel in the Royal Theater Carré, where he was a guest together with sprinter Fabio Jakobsen. It is the first time since 2010 that the seasoned pro will not ride the Tour de France. Although there is one side note: Mollema is on the reserve list. If a selected rider drops out, he will be one of the first to be called up.
‘No super Giro’
,,I already felt it coming a bit”, said Mollema. “I didn’t have a super good spring and knew that there were other riders on the provisional list. With Mads Pedersen we have a sprinter who also gets men, in addition Mattias Skjelmose will be the classification man. Giulio Ciccone would not actually do the Tour, but then gets corona just before the Giro d’Italia and still goes to the Tour.”
The Groningen man hinted that he was somewhat disappointed by the news that was communicated to him two days ago. ,,The team management has made different choices for the rest of the Tour. Too bad of course, I would have loved to have been there. I didn’t ride a super Giro, I know that. I also should have ridden a better spring to be sure of my place. I was on my way to a good level, but unfortunately.”
‘Working towards Vuelta’
Mollema was still at the start of the NK Time Trial in Elspeet on Wednesday evening. The Groningen native failed to extend his national title. He finished fifth and had to hand over his red-white-blue jersey to winner Jos van Emden. Afterward, he said Newspaper of the North still in the dark about participating in the Tour. “No, nothing is certain yet,” he said. Against my better judgement, it turns out afterwards.
Mollema had already decided not to travel to Sittard for the NK on the road next weekend. He wanted to spend more time with his family and finish a good ‘training block’ in his home environment towards the Tour. “In the coming weeks I will continue training and I will make sure that I am on stand-by,” he said on Thursday evening. “I will take a week of rest, then I will drive in Wallonia and then San Sebastián. Then it is working towards the Vuelta.”
Tour de France
The Tour de France will start next Saturday in Bilbao, Spain. It immediately promises to be a smashing start, with a tough hilly ride of 182 kilometers. Despite the absence of Bauke Mollema, there will still be some compatriots driving around. Among them, for example, Lars van den Berg, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Danny van Poppel, Nils Eekhoff, Cees Bol, Dylan van Baarle, Wilco Kelderman and Mathieu van de Poel.