Wout Poels has two tasks during this Giro d’Italia. One he must fulfil – it’s an obligation, the reason he’s even in Italy in the first place. The other is a dream – but an achievable one. Aged 38, the Dutchman is the oldest rider in the race, a veteran of the peloton who counts 26 Grand Tours participations across his 21-year career. Five of his Unibet Rose Rockets teammates are making their three-week debuts at the race. Poels – along with fellow Rockets rider Dylan Groenewegen – is there to lead, guide and shepherd his inexperienced teammates.
He’s also there to complete the Grand Tour trilogy. A Tour de France stage winner in 2023, he also won a stage of the same year’s Vuelta a España. Win a stage of the Giro, and he’ll join a club that currently totals 114 members, those who’ve won a stage in each of the three Grand Tours. Poels has won seven races in the past five years, proving he’s still got the legs, still got the knowhow. Crucially, he’s still got plenty of faith.
“If I didn’t believe I wouldn’t be here,” Poels told Rouleur, just days before the Giro, his fifth, got underway. “I still believe in it, still believe it’s possible. If I didn’t believe in it I could have stayed at home. But instead I went to Sierra Nevada for three-and-a-half weeks for an altitude camp. Preparation was good, training went well, and here we are.”
In his prime, when riding for Team Sky and Bahrain-Victorious, Poels could mix it with the best climbers and occasionally feature in the GC fight; he twice finished sixth overall at the Vuelta. Those days are behind him, but he shouldn’t be ruled out of contention if he’s part of a breakaway on a mountainous day. “A good stage [to win] for me is one that goes uphill,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to finish uphill though. The stage I won in the Vuelta, I beat Remco [Evenepoel] in a flat sprint finish. I can do mountains all day and then the last 20km can be flat and I can arrive with a small group.
Poels joined the Rockets at the start of 2026 (Image: Billy Ceusters/Getty Images)
“The most important thing is to take opportunities when they come. The hard thing is trying to get in the break – it can be very difficult. When there’s a good moment in the race to get in a break, take it.”
There is a lot of attention on the Rockets in what is the team’s debut Grand Tour. In just a short space of time they've gathered a following that many more established teams are envious of. They’re a 21st century team, built with the digital era at the forefront of everything they do. Yet wise, old heads are still needed. That’s where Poels steps in. “It’s interesting to see for me because for most people, from teammates to staff, it’s their first Grand Tour,” Poels said. “The team are going to learn a lot for sure. Not only from a racing point of view, but logistically too.
“Everyone’s really excited as everything’s new and happening for the first time.” How will he literally impart his experience, pass on his expertise? “Most of it is on the road,” he answered. “I was at altitude with Hartthijs de Vries and we were speaking about the race a lot and how it’ll go. What I was telling him I’ll be telling the rest. Often in a Grand Tour it’s really easy to get really excited in the first week, but that’s not the end of the race; there’s still two weeks to go.
“You have to be smart with your energy as three weeks is a pretty long time. It’s not like everyone’s flat out all the time. Sometimes you have to drop to try to save as much energy as possible as your only goal for that day is to get to the finish line. It’s a very long race, so all the energy we can save will help you later on.”
Errors will be committed, lessons will be learned. It’s all part of the adventure. “You are always going to make mistakes in a three week race. Of course you are,” Poels said. “It happens in every team. Sometimes you have to race based on your gut feeling, how you’re feeling in the race situation – do you follow a particular rider, for example? You might have to make a decision in a few seasons otherwise the opportunity is gone. Some riders have that instinct and some develop it. But you should never regret racing if you you did something and it wasn’t the smartest move. If you try and you didn’t reach your goal, it’s OK. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t work out.”
In Groenewegen, as well as Poels himself, the Rockets have a genuine contender for stage victories – and more than one. Their spring performances, in which they’ve collected six wins – four of them courtesy of Groenewegen – indicate that the team is well-placed to compete against WorldTour teams and in the biggest of races. Third on stage three for Groenewegen was testament of that and Poels needs no convincing that this is the case.
“We’re all ready to fight,” he said. “We’re here to put in a good performance – we’re not here just to ride around, to go from A to B and say in Rome that we’ve finished a Grand Tour. The ambition is a little bit higher. If I can win a stage and have a victory in all the Grand Tours, that’d be great. And if Dylan can win a stage for the team, that’s also great. We want to show ourselves in the rae and I think we will.”
Cover image: Hristo Rusev/NurPhoto via Getty Images
