Dylan Teuns
INSIDE THE BUNCH The Bahrain-mclaren rider talks his favourite races and his first year as a neo-pro
What keeps you sane at the moment? DT:
It was mentally quite hard to stop, because I was in great shape and building up for the Classics. The first few weeks remained hard, but twice a week I’ve been helping my friend who is a farmer. I have been on the fields driving the tractor. It’s something I do after every season as it’s relaxing and it freshens up my mind. I have also been working on my garden.
DT: How is your current training?
My training has been good during lockdown with a lot of endurance rides. The base is already there from the beginning of lockdown and I picked up the intensity in the last week of May. Recently, I’ve been taking the car to the Ardennes two or three times a week and doing a few harder loops around there.
What will be your goals when the season restarts? DT:
It is a shame for me that the Critérium du Dauphiné and Il Lombardia are at the same time and I don’t know which I will choose to race yet. The Tour de France is important and I want to be part of that selection. Then once I have a Grand Tour in my legs, I will focus on the Worlds, Flèche Wallonne, Liège-bastogne-liège, Amstel Gold and then Flanders.
Can you be a GC rider in Grand Tours? DT:
The one-week races suit me well and I am quite good at them. That initially surprised me, but I have now won a few. I also really like one-day Classics and I like how they come in a nice block in the spring, and then in the summer I can target one-week races. For sure I would like to try for GC in Grand Tours, but that’s a few years away.
What do you need to improve? DT:
In the winter of 2017 to 2018, I started to work more on my time trialling, my position and other small things, and I’ve improved ever since, winning a time trial stage at the Ruta del Sol in February. In two-and-a-halfyears, that is good progress. I want to work on this more, but also want to keep my punch for punchy races. The
Flanders and Ardennes Classics are important to me.
CW: If you could win any race, what would it be? DT:
Liège-bastogne-liège. It’s a Monument, it’s the oldest Classic and if
I go to the Ardennes, it’s on my training route. I always get a special feeling riding there. It’s super hard and although Flanders is special, Liège is more important because it suits me more.
Why is the Belgian spring so special? DT:
The people. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is the opening Classic of the season and when you enter Ghent on the team bus, it’s freezing cold, but there are thousands of people. When I don’t race opening weekend, I really miss it.
“Although Flanders is special, Liège is more important, it suits me more”
DT: When did you know that you wanted to be a pro cyclist?
When I started aged 13. It was my passion from day one and it was a dream to become a professional rider. I remember I did physical tests for my racing licence and the sports doctor told me that I had great capacity to be a good rider. Even to this day, those words from this guy are a great memory because I hadn’t even raced yet.
How was first year as a neo-pro with BMC? DT:
I enjoyed it a lot and I remember how hard it was. In Volta a Catalunya during the Queen stage, I made