"That gave me some stress..." - Tim Wellens' father recalls riding moped alongside Tadej Pogacar in training

With his second season in the colours of UAE Team Emirates nearly at an end, Tim Wellens has proven himself a very important coq in his team's success, including earlier this summer at the 2024 Tour de France, where team leader Tadej Pogacar reclaimed the Maillot Jaune.

Towards the end of August, both Wellens and Pogacar, plus the latter's compatriot Matej Mohoric, embarked on a training ride in Monaco. Nothing too out of the ordinary there, but this time, they were joined by Leo Wellens, Tim's father, who led the superstar trio on a moped.

“We happened to be there on an extended weekend for the baptism of Tim's son, of whom I am godfather," recalls Wellens senior to Het Nieuwsblad. "He had already asked in advance if I could ride along on the moped on Sunday. Such training always has added value, because the way Tim trains now is different from before. If you always ride at a 'stiff' pace during training, then your speed slows down a bit.”

Initially though, he wasn't informed about the addition of the superstar Slovenian duo. "The day before he suddenly said that Pogacar and Matej Mohoric would also come along. That gave me some stress..." Leo Wellens laughs. "But it turned out well."

“They were riding a kind of team time trial. Every 200 to 300 meters they changed positions. Very difficult, because the ones in second and third position catch more wind. We did a long climb, which is a bit more than a false flat at 30 to 35 per hour," he concludes his tale. "Suddenly I saw that Mohoric was no longer there. Tim stayed behind me with Pogacar on his wheel. Almost at the top Tim said: 'now a bloc to the top'. I accelerated to 40 to 45 kilometres per hour and after about 500 meters Tim also had to let go. I held back for a moment, Pogacar joined and I took him to the top.”