Wout Poels

Wouter Lambertus Martinus Henricus Poels (born 1 October 1987) is a Dutch professional road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI ProTeam .

Career Poels was born in Venray. He almost lost a kidney after a massive crash on the sixth stage of the 2012 Tour de France.

After competing with the squad since 2009, Poels moved to the squad for the 2014 season.

Team Sky (2015–19) In September 2014, announced that Poels would join them from 1 January 2015. His first win for the team came in the 2015 Tirreno–Adriatico, where he led the team following the withdrawal of Chris Froome. Poels won stage 4 into Castelraimondo with an attack on the final climb and a solo descent to the finish line. He moved into the lead of the race and went on to finish seventh in the overall standings. He later finished second overall at the Tour of Britain, winning the toughest mountain stage with an uphill finish on Hartside Fell.

In 2016, Poels won his first one-day race after sprinting to victory from a four-man group in Liège–Bastogne–Liège. It was the first monument for Team Sky and for Poels himself.

Bahrain–McLaren (2020–2024) In September 2019, Poels announced that he was joining the team, later renamed as , for the 2020 season. The following year, he held the polka-dot jersey for four days at the 2021 Tour de France, and recorded his best finish at the race to that point – sixteenth overall. In 2022, Poels won the penultimate stage and the general classification at the Vuelta a Andalucía, his first overall stage race win since 2016. Poels then won his first Tour de France stage in 2023; having been part of a large breakaway on stage fifteen, Poels and three other riders went clear following the Col des Aravis, with Poels soloing away on the final climb towards Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and he ultimately won the stage by more than two minutes.

XDS Astana (2025) Poels joined for the 2025 season. His standout result for the season was winning Presidential Tour of Turkey general classification, mountain jersey and victory in stage 4.

Unibet Rose Rockets (2026-current) After only a season with Astana, Poels leave the team and joined at the start of 2026 season.

Major results

Source:

2007 10th Overall Vuelta a Extremadura 1st Mountains classification 2008 1st Overall Vuelta Ciclista a León 3rd Overall Volta a Lleida 3rd Rund um Düren 9th Overall Circuit des Ardennes 2010 (2 pro wins) 1st Stage 4 Tour of Britain 2nd Overall Tour de l'Ain 1st Stage 4 8th Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes 9th Eschborn–Frankfurt City Loop 2011 (1) 1st Stage 15 Vuelta a España 2nd Overall Tour de l'Ain 1st Stage 3 3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen 1st Young rider classification 3rd Overall Vuelta a Murcia 4th Overall Tour de Pologne 2012 (1) 2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg 1st Young rider classification 1st Stage 3 3rd Overall Vuelta a Murcia 8th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Young rider classification 2013 (1) 7th Amstel Curaçao Race 8th Overall Tour de l'Ain 1st Stage 4 9th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 10th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 2014 (1) 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tirreno–Adriatico 9th Strade Bianche 10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 1st Stage 4 2015 (2) 2nd Overall Tour of Britain 1st Stage 5 3rd Overall Abu Dhabi Tour 5th Milano–Torino 7th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Stage 4 8th Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes 8th GP Ouest-France 2016 (6) 1st Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 1st Points classification

1st Stages 1 (ITT) & 4 1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège 1st Stage 5 Volta a Catalunya 1st Stage 6 Tour of Britain 4th La Flèche Wallonne 7th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 2017 (1) 3rd Overall Tour de Pologne 1st Stage 7 4th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 4th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 6th Overall Vuelta a España 6th Milano–Torino 7th Overall Tour of Guangxi 2018 (3) 1st Stage 4 (ITT) Paris–Nice 2nd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 1st Points classification 1st Stage 2 2nd Overall Tour of Britain 1st Stage 6 2019 (1) 3rd Overall Tour Down Under 3rd Overall Volta ao Algarve 4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné 1st Stage 7 7th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 10th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 2020 6th Overall Vuelta a España 6th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Combativity award Stage 5 Tour de France 2021 4th Overall Tour de la Provence Tour de France Held after Stages 8 & 15–17 Combativity award Stage 8 2022 (2) 1st Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 1st Stage 4 2023 (2) 1st Stage 15 Tour de France 1st Stage 20 Vuelta a España 6th Overall UAE Tour 9th Overall Tour of Slovenia 2024 (1) 3rd Overall Tour de Hongrie 1st Stage 5 6th Overall Tour of the Alps 2025 (2) 1st Overall Tour of Turkey 1st Mountains classification 1st Stage 4 7th Overall Tour of Oman 2026 4th Overall Sibiu Cycling Tour 7th Overall Arctic Race of Norway

General classification results timeline Poels leading a group of riders at the 2018 Giro d'Italia; he finished twelfth overall, his best finish at the race. Grand Tour general classification results Grand Tour 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Giro d'Italia — — — 21 — — — 12 — — — 34 — — 50 22 Tour de France DNF DNF 28 — 44 28 — 58 26 110 16 — 27 43 — — Vuelta a España 17 — DNF 38 — —6 — 346 23 DNF 15 — 23 Major stage race general classification results Stage races 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Paris–Nice — — — — — — — DNF — — — 15 27 — — — Tirreno–Adriatico 18810 387 14 — —7 — — — — 11 DNF — Volta a Catalunya — — — — 24 34 — — —NH 79 DNF 29 11 18 — Tour of the Basque Country 39 17910 — — — — — — — — — — — Tour de Romandie — — DNF — — — — — — — — — — — — Critérium du Dauphiné — — 57 — 39 25 — —4 — — — — — — — Tour de Suisse 25 15 — — — — — — —NH 31 — — 16 — —

Classics results timeline Monument 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Milan–San Remo — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 119 Tour of Flanders — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Paris–Roubaix — — — — — — — — — — —NH — — — — — — Liège–Bastogne–Liège — — DNF 76 — 80 —1 — 11710 87 109 38 42 30 — — Giro di Lombardia 119 — DNF — — DNF 12 DNF 38 — — — — DNF — 105 — Classic 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne — — — NH — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Strade Bianche — — — — — 9 — — — — — — — — — — — 44 E3 Harelbeke — — — — — — — — — — —NH — — — — — — Dwars door Vlaanderen — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Amstel Gold Race — 106 DNF DNF — 118 DNF 41 — DNF 108 58 — 22 — — — La Flèche Wallonne DNF — 32 15 113 12 DNF 4 — 64 22 16 22 25 47 — — — Clásica de San Sebastián — — — — 15 — — — — — DNFNH — DNF — — —

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish IP In progress NH Not held