"I stand here with mixed feelings" - Wout Poels starts Tour de France with goal of commemorating Gino Mäder

Wout Poels is all set to start his 10th career Tour de France on July 1st. Just a few weeks ago though, his Bahrain - Victorious teammate Gino Mäder's tragically passed away at the Tour de Suisse. An incident that is understandably still in the mind of Poels.

"I'm happy to be here, but the past two weeks have been intense. So I stand here with mixed feelings," the 35-year-old Dutchman told NOS after an emotional team presentation of the Bahrain - Victorious lineup prior to the races start. "It's nice that they did that minute of silence, then everything comes back in and you are confronted with it."

Poels was actually in the middle of a stage at the Tour of Slovenia when news broke that Mäder had sadly died, meaning he found out later than most. "We continued there. Life goes on anyway and so does the course. That's all I can do," he explains. "You have to try to give it a place and it's nice to recall memories with teammates."

“I had a hard time with that the first few times in training, but you have to turn that off in the race," he continues, referencing the riding of descents. "If you start thinking about it, it's better not to start and stay at home."