DYLAN TEUNS
I’m writing this at the start of the Vuelta and I’m looking forward to a good three weeks of racing in Spain. We’ve got a really strong team, led by Richie Porte, and lots of terrain on which we can thrive. Because of Richie’s crash in the Tour though, we’re are going to race according to the old saying – day by day. That’s especially so in the first week. For me the golden scenario would be to win a stage. There are some stages that suit my strengths but we’ll just have to wait and see whether I get a chance to give everything on them.
I’m pretty happy with my form at the moment, which got me a couple of second places at the Tour of Poland. With those results in the bag I can start the Vuelta confident with where I am.
This is also BMC’s last grand tour. Lots of guys are leaving next year so if we needed some extra motivation, that’s it. I’ll be sad to leave. I’ve had four good years here. It’s a wellstructured environment with the riders at the centre. I’ve really profited from that. I will join BahrainMerida next year and I hope to find some of the same elements from BMC over there. I’ve spoken to the manager, Brent Copeland, a couple of times and I really got the feeling that the team will believe in me. There were a few things that I was looking for in my contract. One was that the team saw potential in me and offered me more leadership opportunities. The Ardennes Classics are really important to me and I believe the management can see me achieving success in those races. I also want to explore my potential in the cobbled Classics. I’m curious about what I can achieve. I did them as an U23 and secured some nice results there. I did a few of them with the full BMC squad as well and had some nice sensations there, so to do a few more of them in 2019 is important to me.
But that’s all in the future. The main thing is that I’ve secured my future for a couple of years. With that ironed out, it allows me to enjoy the last few weeks of the season and hopefully turn some good form into something even more useful: results.