Wout Poels eighth in stage 17 after being able "to finally race again" after weeks of struggles with illness

After a difficult first two weeks of the Tour de France, Wout Poels was finally able to enjoy better feelings again as he entered the large (and late) breakaway during the seventeenth stage to SuperDévoluy. And Poels performed by no means poorly, crossing the line in eighth place in a sprint of small group 2:39 behind the stage winner Richard Carapaz.

The majority of the stage was marked by the endless battle for the breakaway. "It was a tough stage, really full throttle from the start," Poels tells NOS. "I don't know exactly how many of us got away, but at that time it was only fifty kilometers. It was tough," the rider of Bahrain - Victorious expresses himself cautiously.

The fact that Poels was there can be called an achievement in itself. "I was still being dropped in the beginning with that damn wind. That was a bit worse. I recovered after that and as a team we mainly wanted to be with Jack Haig. At the end I just came up short on that climb to be with those guys. They were going just too fast for me at the bottom. I then closed a gap to some riders in front of me, but then they were already gone. That was a shame. But it is nice to be in the race again for a day."

Poels is still in the race and he also has a good feeling again. In the difficult final week he will get enough opportunities. "There are still some nice stages to come," confirms Poels. "Like the one in Isola. That will be a bit more difficult though," the Limburger refers to the classification riders. "Tomorrow might be something too, but it is more something for my teammate Matej Mohoric. In the end you have to take every opportunity, because the GC riders leave little left."