Tim Wellens

Tim Wellens (born 10 May 1991) is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer and former mountain bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Lotto–Soudal.[3]

Tim Wellens
Wellens at the 2014 Ronde van Limburg
Personal information
Full nameTim Wellens
Born (1991-05-10) 10 May 1991
Sint-Truiden, Flanders, Belgium
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
Team information
Current teamLotto–Soudal
DisciplinesRoad
Mountain biking (former)
RoleRider
Rider typeAll-rounder
Amateur teams
2009Avia Cycling Team
2010–2012Davo–Lotto
Professional team
2012–Lotto–Belisol[1][2]
Major wins
Grand Tours
Giro d'Italia
2 individual stages (2016, 2018)
Vuelta a España
2 individual stages (2020)

Stage races

Eneco Tour (2014, 2015)
Tour de Pologne (2016)
Tour of Guangxi (2017)
Vuelta a Andalucía (2018)
Tour de Wallonie (2018)

One-day races and Classics

GP de Montréal (2015)
Brabantse Pijl (2018)

Career

Born in Sint-Truiden, Wellens has competed as a professional since the middle of the 2012 season,[4] joining the Lotto–Belisol team after three seasons with the squad's development team.

2012 season

Wellens made his début with the team at the GP José Dubois, where he finished eighth; he later made his first appearances on the UCI World Tour, by competing in the Canadian pair of races in Quebec, and Montreal attempting to bridge to each race's breakaway during the respective events.[5][6] Wellens performed strongly in the season-ending Tour of Beijing, finishing each of the race's stages inside the top 25 placings – taking a best of fifth on the final stage – en route to a final overall placing of tenth,[7][8] and second to Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank rider Rafał Majka in the young rider classification.[9]

2014 season
Wellens at the 2014 Giro d'Italia

In August 2014, Wellens won Stage 6 in the Eneco Tour with a solo breakaway.[10] The time he gained on this stage meant he ultimately won the race overall.

2015 season

He was named in the start list for the Tour de France.[11] At the Eneco Tour, on Stage 6 Wellens attacked on the Côte Saint-Roch, then won nine seconds in the sprints in the golden kilometre. The main group was not able to chase Wellens down and his lead extended during the downhill run into Houffalize; he won the stage by 49 seconds ahead of Greg Van Avermaet, with Simon Geschke third. Wellens moved into the overall lead, 1' 03" ahead of Van Avermaet, with Wilco Kelderman dropping to third.[12] Wellens defended his lead on the final stage to win his second successive Eneco Tour.

2016 season

At the Giro d'Italia, Wellens won Stage 6 after joining the successful breakaway partway through the stage. In July 2016, Wellens won Stage 5 of the Tour de Pologne with a solo breakaway in a rain soaked stage in which 85 riders abandoned.[13] This gave him a lead of over 4 minutes in the general classification, which he successfully defended to the end of the race.

2017 season

Wellens abandoned Stage 15 of the Tour de France because of heat and pollen allergies which he refused to treat with a therapeutic use exemption (TUE), which he does not approve to use.[14] Despite having asthma, Wellens does not use an inhaler and also criticised Chris Froome during his salbutamol case.

2018 season

Wellens' first victory in 2018 came at the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana where he won the race for a second year in a row.[15] At the Vuelta a Andalucía, Wellens won stage 4 and took the lead of the overall standings, by beating Mikel Landa on the cobbled climb of Alcalá de los Gazules.[16]

2020 season

In October 2020, he was named in the startlist for the Vuelta a España.[17] He won two stages during the race, and finished second to Guillaume Martin in the mountains classification.[18][19]

Major results
2008
1st Cross-country, National Junior Mountain Bike Championships
4th Overall Liège–La Gleize
2009
2nd Overall Tour d'Istrie
1st Stage 1
3rd Overall Tre Giorni Orobica
5th Road race, National Junior Road Championships
5th Overall Liège–La Gleize
1st Stage 4
2010
7th Overall Tour des Pays de Savoie
2011
5th Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
5th Overall Tour des Pays de Savoie
2012
2nd Overall Toscana-Terra di Ciclismo
2nd Overall Vuelta a Navarra
4th Circuit de Wallonie
8th Overall Circuit des Ardennes
1st Young rider classification
8th Grand Prix José Dubois
10th Overall Tour de l'Avenir
10th Overall Tour of Beijing
2013
8th Overall Tour de Wallonie
2014
1st Overall Eneco Tour
1st Stage 6
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
2nd Overall Ster ZLM Toer
4th Giro di Lombardia
6th GP Ouest–France
2015
1st Overall Eneco Tour
1st Stage 6
1st Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
2nd Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
10th Overall Paris–Nice
10th Trofeo Andratx–Mirador d'es Colomer
2016
1st Overall Tour de Pologne
1st Mountains classification
1st Most active rider classification
1st Stage 5
Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 6
Held after Stages 7–9
1st Stage 7 Paris–Nice
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
10th Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
10th Amstel Gold Race
2017
1st Overall Tour of Guangxi
1st Stage 4
1st Grand Prix de Wallonie
1st Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
1st Trofeo Pollenca–Port de Andratx
1st Stage 5 Vuelta a Andalucía
2nd Overall BinckBank Tour
1st Stage 6
3rd Strade Bianche
4th Brabantse Pijl
5th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
9th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
2018
1st Overall Tour de Wallonie
1st Stage 2
1st Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
1st Stage 4
1st Brabantse Pijl
1st Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
1st Stage 4 Giro d'Italia
3rd Overall BinckBank Tour
3rd Bretagne Classic Ouest–France
5th Overall Paris–Nice
1st Points classification
5th Giro di Lombardia
6th Amstel Gold Race
7th La Flèche Wallonne
7th Trofeo Lloseta–Andratx
2019
1st Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
2nd Trofeo Andratx–Lloseta
3rd Overall BinckBank Tour
1st Stage 4
3rd Overall Tour of Belgium
1st Stage 3 (ITT)
3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
3rd Brabantse Pijl
4th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
5th Trofeo Campos, Porreres, Felanitx, Ses Salines
8th Bretagne Classic Ouest–France
9th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 3 (ITT)
9th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
10th Strade Bianche
10th Tre Valli Varesine
Tour de France
Held after Stages 3–17
Combativity award Stages 3 & 6
2020
Vuelta a España
1st Stages 5 & 14
Held after Stages 5–6
4th Overall Tour de Luxembourg
5th Overall Volta ao Algarve
2021
6th Grand Prix La Marseillaise

Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Giro d'Italia 54 — 96 — DNF — —
Tour de France — 129 — DNF — 94 —
Vuelta a España — — — — — — 78

Classics results timeline
Monument 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Milan–San Remo — — — 15 — 18 — — —
Tour of Flanders — — — — — — — 34 DNF
Paris–Roubaix Has not contested during his career
Liège–Bastogne–Liège — DNF 43 93 48 35 16 11 33
Giro di Lombardia 50 — 4 71 DNF 20 5 29 OTL
Classic 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad — — — — — — 69 3 28
Strade Bianche — — — — — 3 — 10 —
Brabantse Pijl — 19 — — 38 4 1 3 49
Amstel Gold Race — — 68 19 10 42 6 DNF NH
La Flèche Wallonne — 139 61 31 65 18 7 17 21
Clásica de San Sebastián — 102 44 31 13 DNF DNF DNF NH
Bretagne Classic — 115 6 110 96 83 3 8 —
Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec DNF 51 108 120 14 5 28 9 NH
Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal 34 20 24 1 43 12 21 4 NH
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish
OTL Outside time limit
NH Not held

References
  1. "Lotto-Soudal". Directvelo (in French). Association Le Peloton. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  2. "Steff Cras and Matthew Holmes complete Lotto Soudal's 2020 roster". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  3. "Lotto Soudal". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  4. "Tim Wellens debuts". Lotto–Belisol. Belgian Cycling Company sa. 14 July 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  5. Atkins, Ben (7 September 2012). "Simon Gerrans takes breakaway sprint victory in GP Québec". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  6. Moore, Kyle (9 September 2012). "Lars Petter Nordhaug nails career best win in GP Cycliste de Montréal". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  7. Stokes, Shane (13 October 2012). "Cummings beats Hesjedal to scoop final stage of Tour of Beijing, Martin wins overall". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  8. Ryan, Barry (13 October 2012). "Tony Martin wins second consecutive Tour of Beijing". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  9. "Well done Tim Wellens!". Lotto–Belisol. Belgian Cycling Company sa. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  10. http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/eneco-tour-2014/stage-6/results/
  11. "2015 Tour de France start list". Velo News. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  12. "Wellens wins in Houffalize". Cyclingnews.com. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  13. http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-pologne-2016/stage-5/results/
  14. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wellens-questions-use-of-salbutamol-inhalers-in-cycling/
  15. http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/tim-wellens-wins-trofeo-serra-de-tramuntana-for-second-year-running-367223
  16. http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/tim-wellens-wins-stage-four-ruta-del-sol-369628
  17. "75th La Vuelta ciclista a España: Startlist". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  18. Bonville-Ginn, Tim (4 November 2020). "Tim Wellens powers to second breakaway win of the Vuelta a España 2020 on stage 14". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  19. "Tim Wellens". Vuelta a España. Unipublic. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
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