"It was immediately clear that it was a battle for second and third" - Tim Wellens narrowly misses podium at E3 Saxo Classic
Cycling
Best of the UAE Team Emirates lineup at a thrilling edition of the E3 Saxo Classic on Thursday afternoon in Flanders, Tim Wellens narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing fourth.
“It was a super difficult, but very nice race,” the 32-year-old Belgian in a post-race interview with Wielerflits. “Everyone knew something was going to happen on the Traaienberg. In the end, everyone sat together. Ultimately it turned out that Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert were the best in the race. Behind it, we had a good spin and at the end, the legs simply spoke. Everyone ended up in their place here.”
With two key incidents happening on the Paterberg - Wout van Aert crashing and Mathieu van der Poel attacking - Wellens soon realised victory would perhaps be a stretch too far for him. "Everyone did what they could. We tried to come back, but it was immediately clear that it was a battle for second and third place," he explains. "Although it was still strong for Jasper Stuyven to ride across to Wout.”
In the end, it was Stuyven who took second with van Aert completing the podium before Wellens came home in fourth. “The feeling was good. This bodes well for things to come. It's always nice to reach finals and take a place of honour, so I'm very happy with it,” Wellens concludes.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
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Double top-10 at the #E3SaxoClassic 🇧🇪 in Harelbeke. 4th @Tim_Wellens 7th @PolittNils Good job boys👏. #WeAreUAE #UAETeamEmirates
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