Tim Wellens finishes 8th in hectic Strade Bianche
 

Tim Wellens finished in eighth place at today’s Strade Bianche. The Lotto Soudal rider rode an attentive race, partly marred by a massive crash caused by a heavy gust of wind, just under 100 kilometres from the finish line. The crash forced several riders to abandon the race, which was also the case for Victor Campenaerts and Brent Van Moer. The victory went to Tadej Pogačar, who started an impressive solo on Monte Sante Marie and ended it successfully in Siena.

After a quiet start to the 16^th Strade Bianche, in which a front group of nine took shape, the peloton was startled by a massive crash taking place at a little under 100 kilometres to go. A gust of wind made several riders crash at the front of the peloton, causing a domino effect which brought down almost half of the peloton. Lotto Soudal rider Tim Wellens could narrowly avoid the crash. Often the case at Strade Bianche, the race exploded on Monte Sante Marie, a gravel section of over ten kilometres long, including several steep ramps. When Tadej Pogačar accelerated, no one was able to follow the Slovenian as he quickly opened up a gap of one and a half minute.
 
Five riders broke away on the Monteaperti gravel section, in pursuit of Pogačar: Wellens, Valverde, Asgreen, Simmons and Narváez. However, the quintet never got much closer than one minute and it was Asgreen who attacked and was joined by Valverde a bit later. In the background, Tim Wellens battled for a result just outside the podium in a second chasing group. Pogačar went on to win Strade Bianche with an impressive solo effort, Tim Wellens had to settle for eighth place in the end.
 
Tim Wellens: “We were positioned really well during the first crucial sector but a big part of the bunch was mowed down by a heavy gust of wind. After that the race was put a little on hold until gravel section seven, where we took the initiative with amongst others Harry Sweeny and Maxim Van Gils. As we knew, the selection would be made on the Monte Sante Marie, where I was in fifth position when Pogačar attacked in the descent. I was in the ideal position but Tadej went so fast nobody could follow him. On the Monteaperti, the race exploded again and I was able to escape with four other riders. At that point, I still hoped for a podium place but on the next sector it turned out that Asgreen and Valverde were better. Before the tough final kilometre, a few riders joined our chasing group and on the steep ramps towards Piazza del Campo, I had a weak moment and ended up in eighth place. Of course I had hoped for more, but being in the front line with the best riders in the race makes me happy.”
 
“Strade Bianche is and will always be a beautiful race but you also need a decent amount of luck, even if you have to create that yourself sometimes. It is a really honest race and in the end, everyone ends up in the place they should. The team did a good job today, although we had quite some bad luck. Victor crashed on the first sector and also Brent was knocked down by the wind’, concludes Tim Wellens.
 
The massive crash forced many riders to abandon, including Victor Campenaerts and Brent Van Moer. Victor Campenaerts already crashed prior to the big pile-up, had to change wheels and was again involved in the crash at 100 kilometres to go. The Belgian suffered from back pain, but it doesn’t seem too bad at first. Brent Van Moer was at the front lines of the peloton and initially looked to escape the crash but a new gust of wind took down the young Belgian, who was hit on the hip and elbow.

Image: Photo News.