Dylan Teuns on falling out with Israel - Premier Tech due to Tour de France: "The team decided to take a sprinter with them and he needed a few riders"

Dylan Teuns had already had a falling out with Bahrain - Victorious in 2022 after a very strong season, and this year although he didn't break his contract mid-year, the Belgian has left Israel - Premier Tech due to the decision to leave him home at the Tour de France.

The 32-year old had a strong spring, showing his very best level at the Tour of Flanders with an attack that looked like it would earn him a podium result. He was 8th in the end but also rode to second at the Brabantse Pijl. A good spring and a promising sign for his return to the Tour de France, but despite showing good legs at the Criterium du Dauphiné the team decided to go a different direction and he was eventually not chosen to be at the French race.

"I had already started preparing for the Tour, had the Dauphiné in my legs and felt myself growing during the altitude training. The team decided to take a sprinter with them and he needed a few riders to support him. That put me in the balance with another rider. In the end, I wasn't allowed to go. I thought that was a pretty weak explanation," Teuns shared with Sporza. "By the way, Israel-Premier Tech hadn't made me a concrete proposal at the time".

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Then a decision was done, he would leave the team. Teuns would still race the end of the season but he was not close to achieving the same kind of results. He signed a two-year deal with Cofidis who signed an array or new leaders also including Alex Aranburu and Emanuel Buchmann who will be some of the team leaders throughout the spring.

Having taken part in a team training camp in Spain recently, Teuns already decided on his main goals for this upcoming spring, which virtually mimic his scedule of this season: "I'm kicking off my spring in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, normally followed by Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and the Strade Bianche. That's a block in which I already want to be good. But the real big focus is on the block from the Tour of Flanders to and including Liège-Bastogne-Liège".

He hopes to be at the Tour "How can I win the Tour [of Flanders]? With a lot of luck, I guess? With all those big names at the start, I'm not really thinking about how I can win the Tour. Getting that podium would already be a huge boost for my self-confidence".

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