On March 18 last year, Nick Schultz did something special. It was the first stage of the Volta a Catalunya and there was one kilometre remaining on the winding, narrow roads to the finish line in Sant Feliu de Guíxols. After a tough day in the mountains, the reduced bunch which remained in the fight for the win featured only climbers, principal among them Tadej Pogačar, three-time Tour de France winner and likely the fastest finisher in the group. He should have won the stage that day. But things did not go as written.
Instead of Pogačar taking the spoils, two riders from Israel-Premier Tech, Stevie Williams and Nick Schultz, came to the fore and they rode smart. Williams let Schultz’s wheel go just before one of the final bends and the Australian rider found himself with a gap. He rode hard to the line and crossed it with time to celebrate. Pogačar picked up second for UAE Team Emirates behind him – one of the only times the Slovenian rider was beaten in a finish like that last season. The victory for Schultz was the biggest of his career so far, and a sign that if you’re prepared to challenge him, Pogačar is not always unbeatable.
“I think we, as his rivals, should start to look at it a little bit differently and take different approaches. Maybe what Stevie and I and the rest of the team did that day should be implemented a little bit more to try and catch people out,” Schultz reflects. “And obviously you need to have a strong team to do that, but there is no doubt there is that sentiment [of accepting Pogačar is going to win] and I think that favours him. If everyone's on the start line and they're looking at him thinking that he's untouchable, then he's already got the upper hand.”
Nick Schultz at the 2024 Giro d'Italia (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
The Australian rider concedes that it can be difficult to outsmart UAE Team Emirates-XRG with the strength they have in their ranks, but he adds that other teams need to be aware of the moments where Pogačar is isolated: “I think UAE is so dominant and they have so many strong riders, they can dictate the race. In that Catalunya stage, we were the team with the numbers at the finish and UAE burnt all their guys throughout the day to control a difficult breakaway. They didn’t have anyone left.”
Schultz adds that the new UCI points and relegation system can make teams reluctant to try all-or-nothing moves, pointing to a hierarchy in the peloton which has developed in recent seasons. The likes of Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel are a level above when it comes to Grand Tours, something that Schultz can’t see changing any time soon, regardless of a change in mindset from the rest of the peloton.
“It's a golden era of cycling and I think it will continue. In saying that, there's also always young guys coming through and their level is phenomenal. They're doing all the things to be at their best from a very young age and they're able to do things that, when I was 20, was perceived as impossible,” Schultz states. “I think there will always be new exciting riders but there's no doubt that three, four or five guys appear to be a level above and I do expect that dominance to stay that way.”
While there’s undoubtedly a trend in professional cycling of riders performing at an increasingly younger age, Schultz points out that experience can be key when it comes to executing clever tactical moves like his team did in Catalunya. While Israel-Premier Tech has faced criticism in the past for tending to sign older riders, he argues that having a wide age range within the team is a big asset.
“The public can say what they want about older riders being signed to the team, but experience is a key word for a reason. It brings a lot to young guys if they can look up to experienced riders and see how you do things. It’s not always about in the race but also off bike stuff,” Schultz says. “In our team, when you have got a guy like Simon Clarke calling the shots who has seen it all, it's relaxing when you're in a team that has riders like that.”
Stevie Williams and Nick Schultz at the 2024 Tour Down Under (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Despite Israel-Premier Tech’s demotion to ProTeam level at the end of the 2022 season, there have been promising performances from the squad over the last two years, including Mike Woods’ 2023 Tour de France stage victory and Stevie Williams’ 2024 Tour Down Under and La Flèche Wallonne wins. Schultz notes that these successes have come from cohesion and a strong bond between both staff and teammates within the squad.
“I think it comes back to people and it comes from the top. We have got great leaders of the team in the staff group and that trickles down where we're a group of mates racing our bikes and we all get on really well. I think when you're racing for someone who you're good friends with off the bike you're gonna be working just that little bit harder,” he explains.
“Much like negativity is contagious, a good attitude is contagious. We've got a real positive wave of momentum within the team and it just trickles down to everyone. You can't take that for granted.”
The Australian adds that he believes his team are making all the necessary steps to return to the top echelons of the sport. While he argues they don’t have the same budgets as the likes of UAE Team Emirates-XRG to sign the best riders, from a performance development standpoint he thinks that Israel-Premier Tech are on the same level as leading WorldTour squads.
“It's constantly looking at, how can the team do better? It’s a high-performance mindset and a real analytical mindset. They took on board the criticism and thought about how to change the momentum. We’re close to the best teams now in terms of the scientists we have, the coaches, the directors. I struggle to see a scenario where there are teams doing it better than we are,” Schultz states.
“It's really quite phenomenal what goes on behind the scenes. We're doing everything we possibly can when it comes to looking at performance, the next step is just just growing the depth in the team, having more riders who can finish things off and that's coming.”
Alongside Williams who is a proven winner, Schultz points to riders like Derek Gee and Mike Woods as those who will also be able to increase Israel-Premier Tech’s win tally in 2024. Despite his personal success over the past few seasons, the 30-year-old comments that he’s satisfied with being a part of his team’s wider vision, playing a key domestique role both when he has leaders going for the general classification and stage wins in Grand Tours.
Beating riders like Pogačar is a tough call for the entire peloton, but Schultz is adamant that having a defeatist mindset is only going to make things tougher. Instead, he believes that it is a case of Israel-Premier Tech focusing on getting all the small things right, from executing ambitious tactical plans to staying at the forefront of coaching and technological developments. With that, success is sure to follow.
“There has to be buy-in from the riders and we have that,” Schultz states. “Everyone as a group, staff, riders, team owners, we’re pushing forward because we want to be one of the best teams in the world.”
Image: Getty Images/Tim de Waele
