Wout Poels forced to adjust his schedule after a "man flu" shut him down for a week: "I was going completely crazy"
Cycling
Wout Poels is on a mission this year. He was brought to XDS Astana as a potential GC leader in smaller stage races, but he also some personal boxes to tick off. Seventh place overall at the Tour of Oman wouldn't be a bad start to the new season, had it not been for an illness Poels contracted just as the race ended.
"I woke up after the last ride shivering from the cold, which is never a good sign. It was quite a long journey from Oman. So I didn't get home until 00:30 and haven't touched the bike for a week since then," he explains in his own podcast In Koers.
Poels continues and it turns out to be a rather specific flu virus: the man flu. "It was terrible. I said to my wife: if you ever have to give birth, you should just think about this moment, how hard it is for me," Poels says jokingly. He continues in that vein for a while. "At one point I thought: if this is my time, then so be it. I've had a good life. I felt so bad. Unbearable. You have a thermometer in your ear all day long and when it read 38.6... I was going completely crazy."
But seriously; Poels did indeed have a bad case of the flu. "It kept going on and on, but the doctor said the flu can last at least a week. Then you hope it will be over a bit quicker, but I really didn't touch the bike for seven days."
As a result, some things have been deleted and adjusted in Poels' program. "When I got sick, after four or five days without a bike it was clear that we'd better skip the French races for a while."
Poels' program now includes the Tirreno-Adriatico from March 10. Just a week after the Italian race finishes, he'll sign up for another week-long stage race in Catalunya with preparation aimed on Giro d'Italia in May. Poels wishes to complete his collection of Grand Tour stages there.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- big rival … ridiculous.Ketterechts07-11-2026
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MarkFour07-11-2026 - This is a really interesting idea, which, if well prepared could even be very successful. Very little money needs to be involved for a first season and any success could lead to rapid interest from sponsors.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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