Mike Teunissen’s anticipated return to
Team Visma | Lease a
Bike fell through, but the 32-year-old is now fully committed to his new role
at
Astana Qazaqstan Team.
In an interview with WielerFlits, Teunissen
emphasised his desire to focus on the future rather than dwelling on past
events.
The Limburg native was candid about his reluctance to
revisit
the circumstances surrounding the failed transfer. "That is also
the right thing to do for my new team, who have every confidence in me and I
would like to repay that," he stated. “What I can say about that is that I
don’t really feel like going into that now,” he added.
“That would be the tone
of the entire interview and I don’t think that’s fair to my new employer. I’m
very happy with the trust and enthusiasm expressed by the people at XDS Astana.
I value that a lot. Together with them, I’m looking forward to the future.
That’s why I’d like to talk about XDS Astana and not about things from the
past.”
Teunissen made a conscious decision to join the team led by Aleksandr
Vinokourov, despite opportunities to remain with Intermarché-Wanty or
potentially move to INEOS Grenadiers. He highlighted the ambitious environment
at Astana Qazaqstan as a key factor in his decision.
“XDS Astana is a team that is under pressure and where there
is a huge challenge. But also one where the resources have grown towards next
year. Not only financially, but also in terms of sporting, enormous steps have
been taken. That story appealed to me and I see a great opportunity in that. I
wanted to get on board with that,” Teunissen explained.
While INEOS Grenadiers expressed genuine interest in
Teunissen, circumstances surrounding Tom Pidcock left Teunissen in a waiting
position, prompting him to prioritise certainty with Astana. “INEOS Grenadiers
was also really interested, but I was in the waiting room because of the
situation with Tom Pidcock,” he revealed.