‘There was no longer a place for me’ – Bart Wellens leaves cyclo-cross behind to forge role as sports director for Lotto-Intermarché

Lotto’s Deschacht-Hens ‘cross team and Intermarché-Wanty’s Charles Liégeois Roastery CX team will become Charles Liégeois – Deschacht on Thursday.

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“For the past four months, I’ve been working with this cyclo-cross team seven days a week,” Wellens said. “I did everything I could to give my riders the best of the best. I brought Julie Brouwers to the level she’s currently riding, and I know she can do even better. I hope the new team management will spend as many hours on their moped or give as much training in the cyclocross field as I did.

“I’m not completely abandoning Julie and Keije [Solen] either, right in the middle of the season. I promised them that if they need me during the week, for example, to ride behind their moped, I’ll be there for them.”

The former cyclo-cross world champion said realising that the Superprestige in Diegem on Tuesday was his last foray into the discipline was “a bitter pill to swallow”.

“But every cloud has a silver lining. I don’t normally see my children in January, but this time I’ve already booked a few dates for them. And I’ll definitely keep following it. I have to, since I’ll continue fulfilling my role as Cyclo-cross Professor – from the comfort of my own home, of course, or on-site, like in Benidorm, where I’ll be present as an analyst for Play Sports.

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“Cyclo-cross will always be in my heart. The only thing I won’t miss is having to fight for an extra square meter to pitch your tent at 7:30 in the morning in the riders’ parking lot. And since I’m not expected in Baal [the GP Sven Nys on January 1], I don’t have to worry about a hangover this time. Although I’m sure it won’t be too bad. Board games with the kids, a drink, and not going to bed too late.”

The new role will elevate Wellens’ career as a sports director in road cycling.

“I’ve always said I wanted to build my road career as a team leader,” he said. “That dream will come true starting January 1st. I already know my schedule until October, and it’s very comprehensive. The role of a team leader on the road is much broader than in the cyclo-cross world, where I’ve already seen it all.

“In ‘cross, I have to limit myself to a few tips – which tubes, how much pressure in the tires — and we’re only a handful of people. On the road, there’s so much more to it: logistics, planning, and taking thirty to forty people into account.

“When I do the Giro again, I’ll have to create presentations about stages over mountains I’ve never climbed myself and only know about from Veloviewer. If I have to tell a rider how to approach something, I have to be extremely well-prepared and documented. That will be the new challenge for me.”