"I though I would be just a reserve" - Alpecin-Deceuninck bring an unexpected Tour de France debutant

Alpecin-Deceuninck goes all-in for the Tour de France with all of their biggest stars heading to Lille. And next to the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen and Kaden Groves, one rider will make a debut at any Grand Tour - Emiel Verstrynge.

Verstrynge is a name most recognize from cyclocross as the former under-23 European Champion and top-5 finisher at the elite World Championships in Liévin this winter. But the young rider has already indicated his potential on road. And his recent performances didn't go unnoticed by the Belgian team who give the 23-year-old golden opportunity to get a taste of atmosphere of Grade Boucle.

"I was allowed to participate in the entire preparation for the Tour, including the altitude training, with the idea that I would be a reserve," Verstrynge tells Het Nieuwsblad how things came around with his Grand Tour debut. And suddenly, the Tour de France didn't seem so distant anymore. "During the training I started to feel that the chance of being there was increasing."

"I would never have dared to think this in January, but the signals I received from within the team made me believe in it. I didn't feel that I still had to force my selection at the Tour de Suisse, but a strong final weekend, with two places in the top twenty, was the ultimate confirmation. I was only really sure when the selection was official."

The first professional season of Verstrynge couldn't have started any worse though, because the Belgian broke his collarbone at the Strade Bianche. But that didn't break his spirit. "I felt in that race that I could handle the level. A fourteenth place in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a strong Amstel convinced me and the team that I had a place at the highest level."

As noted above, the Tour de Suisse only really gave us a glimpse of what was the 23-year-old capable of in the mountains when he arrived 15th and 16th in final two stages. Yet he's sober about his ambitions for the Tour de France - a race that will be a couple steps above the Swiss WorldTour race.

"It’s not going to be easy every day," Verstrynge states the obvious. "Moreover, I’m in a team with potential stage winners like Van der Poel, Philipsen and Groves. It’s my job to try to help those guys win their stage, something that would give me a lot of satisfaction. Only in the second part of the Tour will there perhaps be opportunities to join the early breakaway. But I’ve never raced for three weeks. So don’t ask me how I’ll feel in the third week, because I don’t know."

"The Tour has not even started yet and it is already more alive than any other race I have ever started in," he grins. "This is so much bigger, but I will only really realize how big the Tour is on Saturday. There will be a lot of pressure in the stages that matter to us, but I will also try to enjoy it."