Wout Poels

This guy from the Dutch province of Limburg was already involved in the team when it still only had a continental status. Wout Poels consciously opted for a future at Vacansoleil-DCM and he grew into a self-trained future leader for the stage races. In 2011 Poels had his definitive breakthrough as a climber in two extremely heavy mountain stages in the Vuelta; with a second place he only just missed the win of the day. In 2012 he continued with the best young rider jersey in the Tirreno-Adriatico and a stage victory in the Tour of Luxemburg. However, fate struck during the Tour de France for Poels. The day before the peloton was going to move into the mountains, the 25 year-old rider was involved with a massive crash. Poels was in a bad way, with broken ribs, a torn spleen and kidney. His season reached a premature end, and the man from Blitterswijck has been back on his bike since September 2012. The rider and the team patiently wait to see what level he will reach when he fully returns to active duty. With great pleasure and low expectations, the first victory of 2013 is seeing him with a number on his back.