Riders to Watch in 2015 – Dylan Teuns interview

By David Hunter

He’s 22 years old, Belgian and loves the Ardennes. No wonder the press have labelled him, “The Next Gilbert.”

Dylan Teuns has always been a star in the making. BMC have carefully managed his progress and he was promoted to the full squad, in August of this year. This promotion went better than hoped for and seen him take out some nice results in the pro peloton.

Earlier in 2014 he claimed some notable victories in Tour de Bretagne and Mont Blanc. The victory in Mont Blanc was something special, after a long day in the break.

“I did a solo ride of 25km and I was in the break for 130km, that was an incredible win, one of my most impressive. I was really happy with that win and also with the support from Rik Verbrugghe, he helped me to win there.”

The victory was very sweet and Dylan was delighted as he crossed the line. Like all under 23 riders, the big focus was the Tour de l’Avenir. It was the 3rd and final time he would compete in the race and Dylan was determined to claim his first win.

“Yes, I was going to the Tour for a stage win and I succeeded in my goal.”

After achieving one of his targets, he then set his sights on the Tour of Britain. It started very well, with 4th place on the climb of The Tumble.

“I was in a really good shape after the Tour de l’Avenir and I wanted to keep that shape to the worlds. The finish on a climb like that was perfect for me.”

That day he was undone by a late Kwiatkowski attack and the pair were back together the following day, as they chased down Nico Roche.

“I felt good at that moment, I thought he needed some recovery because he did a really hard attack on the climb and there I was sitting on his wheel, and then after that I closed the gap to Roche.”

They worked together to battle for stage glory, but the Pole succeeded. Did the Pole force him into working too much?

“I don’t now, we both did the part we needed to do, but he was super fast in the sprint.”

Due to the final stage TT, Dylan dropped from 5th to 10th on GC, but it was still a very impressive ride,

“I was very pleased with that. When I can grow my TT, in the next few years, then I can go for a top 3 place in the GC.”

His TT ability is something that needs improving and has been identified by himself,

“I need to work in the next years on my TT effort.”

This is crucial as he looks to conquer some 1 week stage races. He is the type of rider capable of challenging in 1 day Classics and 1 week stage races, he’s a talented guy!

Away from Europe, he also made a trip to the USA and competed in the Tour of Utah, winning the white jersey. Most will remember the brutal climb of Powder Mountain,

“You can’t believe how hard it was! I was riding a 39-32 and doing 10km/h for the whole climb.”

Helping the more established members of the BMC squad, is a role that Dylan fulfilled in GP de Wallonie. On way to an astounding 6th place, he helped Greg Van Avermaet take the win,

“My result was super for me, and also the win from Greg.”

He can learn a lot from a rider of the class of GVA and he has sought advice from him. It will be very interesting to see what role BMC look to give him in 2015. He is ready to lead the team, but will have to work his way up the pecking order. Asked about what a successful 2015 would look like, he said this,

“If I can race the races where I will win in the future, and help the leaders of the team to fight for the win.“

From this simple quote, you get the impression of a very confident rider. There is no doubt in my mind he’s going to be a big star of cycling and it won’t be long until he is called the first Dylan Teuns, not the next Gilbert!

David Hunter

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