UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Tim Wellens made the time cut by just two minutes on stage 18 of the Tour de France, battling through the mountainous 185.2 kilometre stage to avoid elimination.
Wellens was the very last rider to finish the stage to Orcières-Merlette alone, 43:02 down on the winner. He was close to missing the time cut, which was 45:17. He spent much of the day in the gruppetto, but had to complete the final climb alone.
"I had a lot of help in the gruppetto and then on the climbs I just had a time trial by myself, doing half the watts, normally I go double the speed," Wellens explained to Cyclingnews and others at the finish of stage 18.
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Even if he is struggling, UAE will have breathed a sigh of relief that Wellens just made it, having already lost one important rider on Thursday when Brandon McNulty dropped out mid-stage.
Concerns of illness in the UAE team have been swirling since Adam Yates struggled on stage 17, reportedly suffering stomach problems the night before the stage 16 time trial. The team said that his stomach illness hadn't spread, but other riders clearly had other illnesses, with McNulty and Wellens both reportedly feeling sick at the start of stage 18.
"I think it's pretty clear there's some sickness in the team," Wellens said. "Fortunately Tadej is OK and I hope it stays that way."
The extent of the problem at UAE was clear by the fact that Pogačar finished stage 18 with only one rider, Isaac del Toro, in the GC group with him. Teams like Decathlon CMA CGM, Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe all finished with their leader and one teammate in that group, so though UAE weren't worse off than any other team, we're accustomed to them being markedly stronger.
Though Yates is reportedly feeling better, he also had a tough day on the bike, finishing 28:55 down.
Pogačar currently leads the Tour by five minutes, so his GC is not at immediate risk with two mountain stages remaining, but illness in the UAE camp is still arguably a cause for concern.
UAE sports manager Matxin Joxean Fernandez downplayed that angle, though, trying to calm any worries ahead of the Alpe d'Huez doubleheader on Friday and Saturday.
"I think it's different. Today was a breakaway day, so it was better to recover and other teams controlled the stage," he said. "Florian was dropped in the normal, when a group of sixty riders were left. Adam decided to stay calm."
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