'Sprinter' Wout Poels shines in peloton sprint

It was a day where Wout Poels could have made his move, but like many other riders, the Dutchman ultimately didn’t feature prominently in stage eleven of the Giro d’Italia. He remained largely in the background until the very end, when he won the peloton sprint, leaving his team pleased with the result.

Poels had plans for the stage. “I think it’s a good stage for breakaways, so we’ll try. I have other stages where I have more chances, but on paper, this is a good one to be in. It will be challenging, so it’ll be quite a fight. We’ll give it a shot,” he said in front of the Sporza microphone.

So in the end that didn't work out, after which we didn't really see Unibet Rose Rockets in the picture all day. Until the end, when a fairly cool-looking peloton steamed to the finish. There was a sprint there after all.

Who won that sprint? That’s right, Wout Poels! The Dutchman finished twelfth and earned 15 UCI points. The riders in thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth place receive 10, 5, and 2 points, respectively, so that’s always a nice bonus.

On Instagram, the Rockets shared footage of the sprint. “UCI points are very important to the Unibet Rose Rockets, and Poels knows that as a sprinter climber! I hope he made you proud, Astana,” Bas Tietema’s team concluded with a wink.