If one man dominated the first week of the Tour, it is Wout van Aert. De Kempenaar impressed in the service of his leaders at Jumbo-Visma and won two stages in between. But Van Aert does not feel invincible.
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“It doesn’t feel like that”, he said at Vive le Vélo. “I’m also suffering, so that’s an exaggeration. It is quite absurd that everything I try seems to work. That is surprising. Today Primoz Roglic has not felt a meter of wind, I think. That was also the intention. He is my key ring because he is someone you can easily drive through a platoon with. That took some effort, but it also yielded a lot. If you then sprint after fans with forty men, then everyone has suffered. So I had faith in it. ”
In the meantime, Van Aert is third in the standings for the green jersey. “I got more questions about it today, while they had just stopped”, laughed Van Aert. “I already know all the arguments. I have two wins, but that might not have been the case if I had been hunting for points from day one. Then you may be wasting too much energy. I don’t see any reason to complain at the moment. ”
A number of championships are planned after the Tour. The Belgian Championship on the road, the World Championship time trial and the World Championship on the road. “That world championship has completely changed,” says Van Aert. “In Switzerland it was constant climbing, for fifteen minutes. Then you go overboard. But the course in Italy suits me better, so the time trial and the road trial are on my mind. Skipping the BK? That will follow automatically, I think. That will be difficult for Tour riders anyway and you cannot take everything with you. ”
My wife Sara De Bie announced on Thursday that the couple is expecting a son. And that she would like to stop getting so much stress from her Wout. “I already had to apologize today,” said Van Aert with a broad smile. “I said it was going to be a quiet day. But it made her laugh, she doesn’t believe me anymore. I’ve lost all credibility. ”
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