'I looked to the left, Bradley Wiggins, then to my right, Froomey' – Mr Angliru Wout Poels reminisces on the hellish climb as it returns to Vuelta a España

As the iconic Alto de l'Angliru once again returns to the Vuelta a España in 2025 for stage 13, so will one of its key animators in modern history – Wout Poels (XDS-Astana), with the Dutchman looking to add to his fifth, second and technically first-place finishes from 2023, 2017 and 2011.

While the violently steep slopes of the Astruian icon strike fear into the hearts of many a bike rider, Poels has embraced them throughout his career, and – even while riding for teammates such as Chris Froome and Mikel Landa – has been at his very best there.

Fourteen years on from when he first raced the Angliru at the Vuelta, at 23 years old and at only his second Grand Tour, Poels is a veteran, currently amid his 25th appearance at one of cycling's prestigious three-week races.

But the memories are still clear from 2011, and with Juan José Cobo subsequently being stripped of his title and win on stage 15 of that Vuelta due to doping charges, Poels was technically the first rider to cross the line that day. He doesn't think of it much as a win, of course, as the result was only changed eight years after the fact, but still, the elite company he was in made it special.

"I remember at one point I looked to the left and it was Bradley Wiggins, then to my right, Froomey and and to my left again, it was [Denis] Menchov," Poels recalled to Cyclingnews before stage 11, with a beaming smile as he reminisced about that day up the Angliru.

"I was like, 'Fucking hell, this is pretty awesome what I'm doing here, as a second-year pro,' and then to finish second, that was almost like a victory for myself, of course.

"It was really nice, because it was only my second Grand Tour – I started that year also in the Tour de France, but I got sick and went home. At the Vuelta, I showed myself to the cycling world, and now, what is it? 14 years later, we are still in the game, so yeah, it was a hell of a ride, I still enjoy it."

After that day as a young GT racer, Poels has returned to the fabled slopes of the Angliru three times, in 2017, 2020 and 2023, with great results of second, eighth and fifth. The former and latter also stand out as special days, as one included guiding Froome up the mountain in red to confirm the overall victory, while Spanish cycling legend Alberto Contador enjoyed his last dance victory up the climb.

Six years later, Poels returned and did a stunning support job again for Landa, with only the Jumbo-Visma trio of Primož Roglič, Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss bettering the Bahrain-Victorious pair. The Dutchman abandoned his chance at the stage to ride for Landa, another story of Poels' career often as a domestique de luxe, but still, he lit up the steep slopes once again. He's far from his best as he enters the twilight of his career, but he's not ruling out one last magic day up the Angliru on Friday's stage 13.

"I think my worst result there was fifth and two times, second and one time," he said, forgetting the eighth from 2020, understandably, given that it was the rescheduled edition due to COVID-19, with the climb being raced up on November 1.

"Of course, Cobo got disqualified in 2011, but anyway, hopefully this year I can look forward to it again. It's a climb that fits me very well, and I quite like to do well on these historical climbs.

"Hopefully, we can do it well this year again. It's a brutal climb. It's so steep, and I think that's just it when it comes to what makes it difficult –the steepness of it," he added, with the 9.8% average gradient hiding pinches approaching 20% that often make it seem like the riders are climbing in slow motion.

No contract yet for 2026, but not yet thinking of retirement

Poels heads back to one of his favourite climbs, not needing a result, but it certainly wouldn't hurt, given that he is still looking to confirm a place for next season. He only signed a one-year deal on purpose with XDS-Astana, as he considered whether to end his career after 2025, but he's not yet done with the sport.

"No, I'm not sure yet where I'll be next year," he told Cyclingnews. "I signed for one year, and to be honest, how I feel now about it, I think I would like to continue one more year, because I still have the level.

"I won the Tour of Turkey, and the Giro went well. Here at the Vuelta, I also feel good, and it's not that I feel like I'm like just riding in the peloton to finish races.

"I would like to stay with the team – I have a quite nice feeling here. But I don't really have stress with it, and obviously, we'll just see how it goes."

Winning a stage and the overall in Turkey is the highlight of the 37-year-old's season so far, but he's got more opportunities still at the Vuelta, where he last won a stage in 2023 ahead of Remco Evenepoel, and at the World Championships, where he'll return to the Dutch road race squad after a three-year absence.

"The legs are getting there. I felt luckily yesterday better than the first week, so hopefully we can do something here," he said, before commenting on being back at Worlds for Rwanda, where he'll likely make up part of Thymen Arensman's support.

"It's always nice to ride for the Dutch Federation and to represent your country. It's also in a special place to go to," said Poels, admitting that sorting the logistics and vaccinations required for the trip were "a little bit of a pain to arrange, but I managed to get everything done, although it's not always nice to do it in the season."

Wout Poels isn't done yet with his racing career, and another vintage performance from the Dutchman up the iconic Asturian beast could catapult him into an end-of-year run that secures him another season in the peloton.

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