Wellens realistic on tough comeback at Brabantse Pijl - 'The legs were very painful'

The Belgian champion didn’t feature in the front of the final standings, finishing in 71st place, but was active in the mid-phase of the race, helping to set up his teammate Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who secured 3rd behind winner Anders Foldager (Jayco AlUla) in a sprint finish

“I was happy to be back at the start. I was happy to hear my name next to the road to hear the encouragement but the legs were very painful,” Wellens told CyclingProNet at the finish.

Despite the lack of recent racing, the Belgian Champion played an important role in helping his teammates fight for position, and even pushed the pace with an attack at 55km to go, which strung out the peloton.

“I tried to do what I could do for the team. When we came on the local lap, we decided we were going to attack. That's what I did. After the attack, I felt the legs pretty hard. So I did what I could do,” explained Wellens. 

Wellens was under no illusions that he would be fighting for victory for the second time in his career at Brabantse Pijl on Friday, just as he had done in 2018. The main objective was getting the racing distance back in the legs, and the support of the crowd helped the Belgian champion through the pain barrier

“I'm happy to finish the race, and there are no miracles. If you train for three weeks, you cannot expect to make good results. The team also knew, my trainer knows. So, there's no disappointment. Of course, you always hope for more, but I do what I can do.”

Next up for Wellens is the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, with the Belgian champion confirming that he is set to ride La Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Eschborn-Frankfurt before he begins his final Tour de France preparations. 

“You’ll see me Sunday, next Wednesday, then Sunday again in Liège, and then Frankfurt and then I have a nice preparation for the Tour de France, and that's where I hope to find my best level again,” revealed Wellens. “But for sure, the next race is important and I try to do what I can do for the team.”

Wellens admitted that he doesn’t know what to expect from himself over the coming Ardennes Classics, but will contribute to the goals of UAE the best he can.

“The harder the race, the worse for me. So Amstel should be one of the better ones, because position is important, and we will see how it goes,” said Wellens.