Tears of pain: Tim Rex gives everything for team leader Jonas Vingegaard in his first Grand Tour

Tim Rex is making his Grand Tour debut with Visma | Lease a Bike. The tall Belgian is still a neo-professional, yet could already be part of a Giro-winning team. The young Rex is throwing himself into that role with total commitment — as was clearly visible on thanks to his expressive 'pain face'. Rex spoke to Het Nieuwsblad about what it is like to be a Grand Tour debutant.

The towering Rex is having a superb first Grand Tour. He supports his team leader Jonas Vingegaard brilliantly on the flat stages and has also been climbing at a level nobody has seen from him before. He says that has everything to do with riding alongside a champion of Vingegaard's calibre.

"I find it incredibly exciting and equally challenging to be here. To be able to ride for Jonas in your very first Grand Tour — that's something to look forward to every single day," he says. The 22-year-old also has an excellent mentor in Victor Campenaerts.

"Campie is working with me very intensively. If I do something wrong, he'll be the one to tell me. What kind of things? Small stuff. Position in the peloton, nutrition… Everyone is trying to make me a bit smarter." As well as his fellow Belgian, Rex draws enormous support from experienced hands like Sepp Kuss and Vingegaard himself. "They've all ridden many Grand Tours. They're constantly ready with tips."

But Campenaerts is not just there for race advice. "Victor is also the man who keeps things relaxed with his daily vlog," Rex says. "Suddenly he's there with his phone, making everyone laugh. He does that really well, I think. It's true that he's trying to find me a girlfriend, but no luck yet. The focus right now is entirely on the race."

Being part of a team trying to win the Giro does not add extra stress for Rex. "You could see it as stressful, but I look at it differently. Standing at the start alongside someone like Jonas means you have to be enormously focused every single day, you have to give your absolute best in every stage. That only makes you better. It brings pressure, but it's also motivating."

Nor does Rex have any objection to putting himself on the line for his team leader. "I'm a domestique through and through. I'm good at many things, but not the best at any single one. I'd rather ride for victory alongside a team leader than chase a top-ten place for myself. I really want to become a kind of super-domestique," he says honestly.

In that ambition, he follows in the footsteps of his older brother Laurenz Rex, who spent years in a similar support role. "He developed from a similar position into something more than just a domestique. That's the beauty of cycling. I'm completely happy with what I get to do now, and where I'll be in five years — we'll see."

For now, Rex's task is to help secure Vingegaard's Giro victory. Stage fourteen already produced a vivid image of just how fully he commits to that mission. Visibly fighting through tears of pain, he drove at the head of the peloton before being cooled down by mentor Campenaerts. When he was finally given the signal to pull off, the youngster was rewarded with an approving pat on the shoulder from Davide Piganzoli.