"They ask me what it was like riding with Chris Froome": Wout Poels enjoys a mentor role for the young Unibet Rockets core

At 38 years old, Wout Poels rightfully belongs to the most esteemed racers in the peloton. After all, he carries experience of nearly two decades in the peloton. During that time, the Dutchman won two Grand Tour stages, a Monument, and witnessed up close Team Sky's most iconic era. But in what appears to be his final professional season, Poels opted for an unusual adventure with a young French-Dutch ProTeam Unibet Rose Rockets. There he's older even than some of the team staff, yet Poels was already infected by their excitement and joy of cycling.

Having ridden for 'The Empire' Team Sky, an established WorldTour lineup Bahrain-Victorious but also a smaller French project Vacansoleil in the early years of his career, Poels can compare how the strcuture of Rockets compares to his past destinatinos.

"It’s definitely a lot bigger than Vacansoleil, but you also can’t compare this team with some of the WorldTour teams I rode for," Poels told IDLProCycling. "They operate with completely different budgets, and then you’re automatically talking about very different staffing numbers. But you know that too. If you don’t expect that, you’ll get a nasty surprise."

Besides sporting aspect, the Rockets also hope that Poels can bring about his wealth of knowledge to share with the young generation of riders in Unibet Rose Rockets. Many of the riders are 15 (or more) years younger than Poels, and thus hungry to learn everything from this seasoned veteran.

"There are so many young riders, so it’s also fun that they still want to learn certain things from you," Poels said. “What it was like riding with Chris Froome, but also smaller, practical things. With some riders I honestly wonder if they’ve even seen me on TV with Froome at the time - they’re so young," he laughed.

He not only wants to contribute with experience, but also leave his name high up in the result sheets. "I just want to have a good year. Normally it’s my last year, and stopping with a good feeling is the most important thing. And I do hope I can still win a race, because then I’ll have won a race with every team I’ve ridden for. A nice statistic, right?"

Did Poels follow closely the team's growth from a brand new continental team in 2023 to a team with realistic ambitions to ride (and succeed) at the Tour de France? "You know what it is? As a rider you’re busy with yourself," he explained. "Last year I was focused on trying to win a stage in the Giro. You do see them pop up every now and then and you follow it a bit, but it’s not like - as a rider at another team - you track everything they do in detail."

In the career of Poels, there is only box that he'd like to tick off: that elusive Giro d'Italia stage. And after the team missed out on a Tour de France wildcard, the chance of riding La Corsa Rosa suddenly feels more realistic.

"If we ride the Giro, then that dream suddenly exists again," Poels said. "If that’s the case, maybe I should push for it once more - because then I would really want to go to the Giro."