Wout van Aert was disappointed that he could not finish his team’s work

Wout van Aert was beaten in the sprint by Australian Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) on Saturday at the end of the 14th stage of the Tour of Spain. “I’m disappointed, because it’s a shame to miss the win after the work the team has shown,” the Visma-Lease a Bike rider told Eurosport.

The Visma-Lease a Bike team set the pace on the long climb to Puerto de Leitariegos. “I expected it to be more difficult,” explained Van Aert. “Of course, it wasn’t easy, but it was possible to stay on the wheels. The sprinters didn’t stop. I still had confidence in my sprint, but I had a cramp in the last 50 meters. And Kaden was a little stronger . too.”

Van Aert had spent Friday on the attack, which allowed him to take the white jersey with blue polka dots for the best climber. It probably cost him energy in the final. “It’s possible. It was difficult yesterday, but it was also a good day. It’s never easy to win a Grand Tour. What the team did today is great. No team was someone else dominated the race. We did it and there was a sprint. It’s a shame I couldn’t finish the job. But I got points for the mountain classification, I’m happy.”