Wout Poels

Wout Poels is a veteran Dutch climber who races for the Bahrain Victorious team.

A former winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the climber is also known for his super domestique roles in Grand Tours and his support of Team Sky leaders, Chris Froome, Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas during four Tour de France wins. Poels turned professional with Vacansoleil in 2009 and quickly established himself as a rising star with a number of early career wins. He moved to Patrick Lefevere’s Omega Pharma Quick-Step team in 2014 and began to develop into an all-rounder for both stage races and one-day Classics.

His consistency drew the attention of Team Sky and after just one year on Quick-Step, Poel joined the British team. In 2016 Poels won Liège-Bastogne-Liège before helping to guide Chris Froome to the his third Tour de France win. A year later he helped Froome win both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España in the same year. Poels also finished sixth in the Vuelta.

In 2018, Poels helped Chris Froome claim the Giro d’Italia before then riding in support of Geraint Thomas during the Welshman’s successful Tour de France bid. Poels returned to the Tour de France the following year to help Egan Bernal win the race, before accepting an offer to join Bahrain-McLaren in 2020. During McLaren's one season in the sport, Poels went on to equal his best result in a Grand Tour with sixth overall at the Vuelta a España.

Poels has since stayed with the Bahrain Victorious squad and claimed his biggest victory in years at the Tour de France in 2023. Winning from the breakaway on stage 15, not only did Poels beat out strong competition from Wout van Aert, but he also rode for 10km alone to the summit finish at Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc. It was to be Poels' first Grand Tour stage victory and a popular one within the peloton.

Rounding out the season with a stage victory on the penultimate day of the Vuelta a España, Poels now only has the Giro d'Italia to tick off before completing the Grand Tour treble. He has a contract with Bahrain Victorious until the end of 2024.