Philippe Gilbert says Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) should put Belgium first after declining a place at the World Championships in Montréal.
“At the end of your career, you may have had several employers, but your country always remains your country,” Gilbert told Belgian broadcaster RTL, rejecting Wellens’s explanation for missing the 27 September road race.
Wellens’s decision followed illness at the end of the Tour de France, which disrupted his training and forced him to miss the Renewi Tour. Belgium coach Serge Pauwels said Wellens did not consider himself ready for the Worlds and had committed to a late-season programme with UAE.
“Despite recognising that it is an honour and a privilege to race for the national team, I have already given my word to UAE,” Wellens said in comments published by Nieuwsblad. “I will complete the final races of the season for the team, which coincide with the World Championships.”
Wellens said UAE needed him because injuries had reduced the number of riders available to race.
“The team is dealing with many injuries this season and has a shortage of available riders. That is why I am stepping in,” he said.
Gilbert, the former world champion and former teammate of Wellens, did not accept his reasoning.
“I respect Tim, but I totally disagree with his reasoning and his position. I have the feeling that he is completely detached from reality,” he said to RTL.
Belgium’s confirmed eight-man selection will be led by Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike). Gilbert said the combination of those leaders and a suitable course made the team one he would have wanted to join.
“In this dream scenario, with two spearheads in form, on a course that suits them both... I would have dreamed of being part of this,” he said.
Gilbert also brought the absence of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) into his criticism, arguing that even the Slovenian’s participation should have presented no obstacle to Wellens riding for Belgium.
“Even if Pogačar had raced, that should not stop you from working for the Belgian team,” he said.
When riding for your nation, you regularly go up against trade teammates. As the world’s top-ranked team, UAE Team Emirates-XRG has riders throughout the World Championships peloton, many of them capable of winning. UAE’s Jhonatan Narváez and Brandon McNulty are selected for Ecuador and the United States respectively, putting them in opposition to Belgium’s leaders.
Were he to attend, Wellens would have to work for Evenepoel and Van Aert against his trade teammates. A rider like Wellens can make all the difference when in a chase situation. If a UAE teammate was off the front and Wellens was in a group with Evenepoel, he would have been expected to ride for the Olympic champion and lead the chase. Wellens did not cite that conflict, and may genuinely feel unprepared. Yet that sits uneasily with his recent form: he won the Tour of Britain overall against a strong field.
Gilbert pointed to his own experience in 2009, when his trade-team colleague Cadel Evans won the world title in Mendrisio while he finished sixth for Belgium.
“But I still gave my best there for the Belgian team,” Gilbert said. “You do it for your country, that is what counts.”
Pauwels took a different position on Wellens’s commitment to UAE, saying he respected the decision after discussing it with the rider.
“He gave his word to his team and I respect that,” Pauwels said to Sporza. “We spoke to each other on Sunday and he is sticking with his decision.”
