Van Aert makes surprising admission after Tour of Denmark hat-trick: ‘I was trying to lead out Laporte’

The Visma | Lease a Bike leader claimed his third victory in as many days on Friday, distancing Lukas Kubis on the steep approach to the finish in Vejle. Laporte crossed the line in third, capping another dominant performance from the Dutch team.

Van Aert’s authority in the finale suggested everything had gone according to plan. Behind the scenes, however, the Belgian had been dealing with painful legs and doubts about his condition throughout the 202.9 kilometre queen stage.

“It might sound strange after winning, but I did not feel particularly good,” Van Aert told Sporza. “My legs were hurting a lot, so we had agreed that Christophe could race for the victory.”

That decision explained Van Aert’s prominent role at the front of the reduced group during the closing kilometres. Rather than preparing his own attack, he was attempting to control the race and discourage his rivals from making a move.

“Part of it was bluff,” he said. “I wanted the others to feel that attacking was pointless. Christophe and I had the situation under control, and tactically we played it well.”

Laporte attacked inside the final four kilometres, but was quickly caught. Van Aert then approached the final climb planning to launch the Frenchman.

“I wanted to lead out Christophe, but near the top I saw that Kubis was the only rider still close,” he explained. “At that point, I had to go for it myself.”

Van Aert opened his sprint with around 800 metres remaining. Kubis briefly moved alongside him, but the Belgian accelerated again on the steepest section to secure his third consecutive stage victory.

“Three wins in a row. I have never done that before,” he said. “It is a special feeling.”

The Belgian initially planned to set the pace for Laporte, but changed his mind when he realised only Kubis was still close enough to challenge.

“I wanted to launch Christophe on the climb,” Van Aert explained. “But when I looked around near the top, Kubis was the only rider still there. At that point, I had to go for it myself.”

Van Aert opened his effort with roughly 800 metres remaining. Kubis briefly moved alongside him, but the race leader accelerated again on the steepest section and created enough separation to take another convincing win.

The result gave Van Aert three consecutive stage victories, something he had never previously achieved during his professional career.

“Three wins in a row. I have never done that before,” he said with a smile. “It is a special feeling.”

The victory followed a chaotic day on wet roads. Van Aert narrowly avoided crashing when teammate Ashlin Barry slipped on a roundabout directly ahead of him.

“I did not want to take any risks trying to pass him, so I jumped onto the kerb,” Van Aert said. “It did not go perfectly and I punctured immediately.”

He briefly continued on Menno Huising’s bike before changing again. Despite the disruption, Visma | Lease a Bike remained in control and gradually reduced the peloton on the Vejle finishing circuit.

“It was a chaotic and difficult stage, but we managed everything well,” Van Aert said.

The Belgian now leads Kubis by 20 seconds in the general classification, with Laporte third at 30 seconds.

Although a clean sweep remains possible with two stages left, Van Aert said defending the leader’s jersey is his main objective.

“I am not thinking about winning all five stages,” he said. “The priority is to keep the jersey. But if the team puts us in position again tomorrow, we will race for the win.”