Wout van Aert is disappointed with the missed sprint opportunity: “It was a sprint at seventy kilometres per hour, after a quiet day. That is not my strongest point”

“There was a bit of a struggle with the elbows, which made us lose momentum and I also lost Christophe as my leadout. That’s a shame. Then I had a clear path for the sprint, but I didn’t have the legs to finish closer,” he added. The stage was marked by intense heat on the way to Nîmes, “Normally I can handle the heat well, but today that wasn’t the case. I didn’t feel great,” Van Aert admitted.

Despite not having his best day, Van Aert was not worried about his performance. “Does it raise doubts? Not really. Good legs can’t disappear. I’ve recovered well from the last few days, but maybe I wasn’t active enough after the rest day. You also have to remember that it was a sprint of seventy kilometers per hour, after a quiet day. That’s not my strongest point,” concluded the 29-year-old cyclist.

Van Aert has his sights set on the Olympic Games in Paris in two and a half weeks, but he has another chance to shine in this Tour in stage 18 to Barcelonette. With three mountain stages still to go, however, he remains a key part of Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s plan to take over the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar.

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