Wout van Aert disappointed after wrong timing: ‘I came in too early’

Third place on the podium at this round is a fact, but Wout van Aert has never once managed to reach the top of the podium.

Today too things went wrong, although it looked good a few hundred metres from the finish. “I was in a good position thanks to the work of Christophe Laporte and we got through the last corner together,” Van Aert began his analysis.

“But I had to waste some serious energy today and the wind came in too early, so I waited a little longer. Then I was really afraid that someone would come up from behind quickly.”

“I saw Jasper Philipsen go out of the corner of my eye and then I started to sprint, but I couldn’t catch him anymore. Unfortunately, he finished second.”

Second place did not please Van Aert. “I’m disappointed,” he admitted plainly. “I felt very good today and it was already there. We drove for it, it’s a shame to leave it behind.”

However, the Visma-Lease a Bike plan made sense all the way through. “We knew the wind could be dangerous and the first breakaway wasn’t ideal for us,” Van Aert explained.

“We didn’t want to push Adam Yates’ time back like that, so we decided to leave him out a few times. That worked out to my advantage, too.”

However, the timing at the end wasn’t ideal. A mistake by Laporte’s lead? “I can say two things about that. What’s the top lead? I don’t think the guys behind me had much hope anymore,” he defended his team-mate.

“And secondly, it would be very wrong for me not to be satisfied with his work. But if I could have started today with a 200m speed, I could have had a great success.”

“Oh, that’s a fast race. Then everything should be fine. The fault lies with us.”