“If I want to have better results, I need to go to a better team" - Tim Wellens believes UAE Team Emirates can push him to a higher level

With Tim Wellens set to make his UAE Team Emirates bow at the 22nd Trofeo Calvia on January 25th, the Belgian has spoken about how his desire to improve pushed him into leaving Lotto Soudal.

Speaking to Velonews, Wellens explains why leaving Lotto after eleven years wasn't as tough of a decision as some may have thought. “I left Lotto on a very good basis. So, I was friends with everyone," the 31-year-old reveals. "I was just not getting the results I wanted to have. So, I wanted to go out of my comfort zone."

Moving to UAE Team Emirates is about more than just a change of scenery for Wellens though. His move to a team that has been battling it out for the win in seemingly every big race over the last few years could be the key to Wellens unlocking the next level of performance from himself and allowing him to get back to the form that saw him win four Grand Tour stages between 2016 and 2020.

“If I want to have better results, I need to go to a better team. I was not going to leave Lotto to go to a same-level team, average team, or even less good team," say Wellens. "There are not so many teams much better than a Lotto. For me, there are only three really good teams, Jumbo-Visma, Ineos, and UAE and, in the end, it was UAE.”

“It’s not that it was not clicking [at Lotto], but the results were not there," continues the Belgian. "If I would have a great season, I would not have left. But in the end, I’m a cyclist, and when I stop my career, I want to have extracted everything that I could."

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