Wout Poels rode to 11th at the Volta a Catalunya and finished fourth at the Port Ainé summit finish, but perhaps the most striking highlights of his race were clashes with Movistar riders, more specifically Ivan García Cortina and Nairo Quintana.
"We rode on a final climb and I felt good. I wanted to move up, but no one let me in. I decided to ride behind [Enric] Mas. That meant that I ended up riding next to Quintana. Maybe that's annoying, but it wasn't that I wanted to push him away," Poels shares in the In Koers podcast. "But at one point he elbowed me," the Dutchman tells. In a non-critical moment of the race the Colombian fought back for his position and what followed was an exchange of words that Poels recalls.
"Then I asked him why he did that. And why he was immediately so aggressive. I jokingly added whether he was on Tramadol again. I think he understood me. Afterwards I thought maybe I shouldn't have said it. But he himself was stupid enough to use it in the Tour de France," the Bahrain - Victorious rider hits back. This did not affect the outcome of the race for the veteran climber, but he continues to tell that Quintana was not the only rider with whom he had contact over the week of racing in Catalan roads.
"There was a lot of pressure at the top [of the climb]. Then [Iván García] Cortina intervened just before the top. He straightened up and delivered a punch to my upper arm. My upper arms aren't that developed though, so it really hurt," he tells. "I thought I couldn't let him get away with it. We always talk about safety and then you have a rider like that."
Poels was however particularly distraught by this incident, confused by the actions of the Movistar rider, who did not apologize after the stage, Poels tells: "After the finish I went to see the UCI and they have a VAR. I made an official complaint there, because several riders saw it."
"He got away with it very well with a small fine and some deduction from his UCI points. I thought he would come to say sorry, but I didn't see him. A truly sad figure."
🇪🇸 #VoltaCatalunya103 Antonio Tiberi finishes 8th and @WoutPoels 10th on the final stage @VoltaCatalunya, with the Italian securing a spot in the top ten GC. 🏆 The team also secured the top spot in the team classification. #RideAsOne #rideforGino 📸 @SprintCycling
